Hello world. It’s been a while since I’ve written a blopost about a London theatre…that series I had such ambitons for to be weekly…maybe weekly was a bit optimistic…but still, I will persist. Shall we carry on?
Today’s theatre is currently home to a rather special and heartwarming show that has captured theatre fans hearts everywhere. I am talking about the Phoenix theatre which is where Come From Away currently resides.
I distinctly remembver visiting this theatre for the first time in October on the year I moved to London, as I had bought a last minute ticket to see The Exorcist, purely because I love the film and couldn’t believe they had made a stage show of it! The show was brilliant and I remember it as clearly now as if I had just seen it, because it was literally like watching a horror film happen right in front of me. I also found it quite entertaining listening to the two girls behind me being scared out of their wits. Although to this day I still have not figured out how the actress did the illusion of turning her head the entire way around…
So that was the first visit to the Phoenix. Not a ground breaking show, but hugely entertaining nontheless. And then I did not return until Come From Away….now THAT show. That show is something else. It is a blessing to London, New York, everywhere the show is running.
I had heard of this show having a hugely popular reaction on broadway, knew it was a tear jerker and there was high anticipation for it landing in London at last. Despite all this, I managed to go to the show knowing the bare minimum. I knew that it had some connection to the 9/11 events and that it supposedly would make remind me of the goodness some people have.
Nothing could have prepared me for Come From Away. The first time I watched the show, I cried so much I could barely see the stage. It’s not necessarily a heartbreaking show – it is to an extent, but whilst it is the events of 9/11 that the show is centred around, and is the reason why the people of Gander take in all these strangers and help them out…the events of that day aren’t actually addressed that much. It’s the reminder of the goodness of people, the kindness that does still prevail in the world, how much people can be unified and come together that caused the show to be so powerful, and impacted me so much.
The show, put simply, is a beautiful declaration of kindness. If you don’t know what the show is about, when the events of 9/11 happened, 38 planes were diverted to a small town in Canada, called Gander. The show is about this community that took 7000 people, whom they had never met before, into their lives and showed them kindness and compassion when it was needed the most.
When the world was losing faith that there were any good people left, when people were turning on each other, when hatred and fear was so prevalent…the people of Gander did the complete opposite. Taking care of thousands of strangers, not giving into the fear and hate but instead showing love and compassion, this show restores my faith in humanity. It’s a reminder that there is still good people on this earth, there is still love to be found, and that however much we think there is that divides and seperates us…there is a lot more that connects and unifies us. There is far more that brings us together and we have in common. We are all people, and hatred and fear should not make people forget that.
If you haven’t seen this show, I’d make it a mission to go and see it when it re-opens. Every time I go to this show, I know I will come out feeling like I have hope for the world yet. It’s such an important show, and it’s the show the world needs right now.
So there we have it. On that note, love is stronger than hate. Be kind to yourselves, and be kind to others. Stay as happy and healthy as possible…and see you all for my next post.
One Show at a Time 