There are no big dance numbers. No lavish costumes. No soaring romantic storyline. In fact, the entire show is performed with little more than chairs, music and an ensemble cast transforming into different characters before your very eyes.
And that is exactly why director Karina Bygate wanted to do it. She explained: “I love this kind of theatre and it’s probably where I feel most at home. There’s something deeply engaging about stripping everything back and just letting the storytelling unfold without distractions. With just a few chairs, a simple movement or a shared glance, we transport an audience halfway across the world. We invite them to join us, imagine with us, and become part of the story.”
And perhaps that is why the show feels so surprisingly intimate in a venue such as The Boxmoor Playhouse. There is no distance between audience and performers here. You don’t simply watch this story unfold; you sit inside it. It stops feeling like “history” and starts feeling personal.
This isn’t a story about New York politicians or world leaders. It’s about teachers, bus drivers, mums, bartenders, animal lovers, nervous passengers and exhausted airline crew. Ordinary people caught in an extraordinary week.
Perhaps the strangest thing about rehearsing Come From Away is despite being rooted in an atrocity, the room is filled with laughter. Some call it a 9/11 musical but it is much more than that. One of the most unexpected things is how personal it has become for the company. Many cast members vividly remember watching the events of that awful day unfold live, while others are discovering the story for the first time through the show.
But the show is funny. Not because it ignores tragedy, but because it understands something important – humour is one of the ways human beings survive difficult moments. The result is a musical that leaves audiences emotional without ever feeling manipulative.
In an age of online outrage, division and endless bad news, Come From Away refuses cynicism. It insists that people are basically good. That communities matter. That kindness still counts for something.
Maybe that’s why audiences don’t just applaud this show. They hold onto it.
Karina has been involved with Hemel Hempstead Theatre Company for 25 years and, as opening night draws nearer, she says the mechanics of the show are settling into place.
She said: “The real emotional life of the piece is beginning to shine through. You can feel the company growing closer every day – which is exactly what this story demands. There’s still plenty to refine, but that’s the exciting part of theatre. Every rehearsal reveals new details, new connections and small moments of humanity that make the production richer.”
