Photo by Matthew Murphy, now restarted on its national tour after being halted by the pandemic, I'd truly like to know about it. I don't think it exists.
In the horrendous moments immediately after 9/11, all incoming flights were canceled over U.S. airspace. Thirty-eight planes were ordered to land in Gander, Newfoundland, once a mighty refueling stop in the era of prop transatlantic planes. Now, in mere minutes, the small town swelled in population to double its size.
The direction from Christopher Ashley, in on the project from the beginning as artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse where this show originated, is some of the most liquid direction I have seen on stage in years. It is flawless in its continuous movement, the precise sculptural moves when everyone acts as chorus, its instantaneous brief scenes set apart from the rest, all at the service of its beating human heart.
Twelve actors play all the characters, islanders and the strangers on the planes. Except for Jeremy Woodard, as gay Kevin T. and Newfoundlander Garth, union leader of the local school bus strike, and the understudy Jane Bunting as Janice, all these are familiar faces from the national tour seen in Houston in 2020, presented by Broadway at the Hobby. They have honed their roles razor-sharp and mesh together with laser focus.