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[0:06] Josh Mitchell: Hello theatre folks one and all. Welcome back to the We Are Theatre Podcast. We are still in Gander. We are still kicking it with a cast from Come From Away Australia as they head back into the theatre for their reopening, I guess, here in Australia. And today we are joined by Angela, one of the standbys for the cast of Come From Away Australia. Hey Angela, how are you going?

[0:28] Angela Kennedy: I'm very well, thank you. I am really excited to have you here. But first of all, what is your favorite thing about the Come From Away story?

[0:41] Angela Kennedy: The story is that it's about kindness, regardless of who you are or where you're from, and how people come together in times of crisis and unite.

[0:41] Josh Mitchell: That's a pretty good summary. Hey. Um being a part of this show, what's something that you've learned that you've really connected to through your discovery of your characters and that type of thing?

[1:13] Angela Kennedy: That you're not an island, so to speak. You just cannot do it on your own. Um it's a show that really hands the baton. I mean, it's a marathon of a show to start with. It's a hundred minutes non-stop, no interval. Uh, 12 actors on stage handing the baton in this marathon of an incredible story, which is true. This is the other thing. So the challenge always is to bring incredible truth to the story as an actor, so revisiting those skills, not just performing it and whacka waka whacker and putting up your jazz hands. Um you've got to honor these real people and this real story and play multiple characters with honesty.

[1:56] Josh Mitchell: Yeah, that makes sense. Do you approach your kind of process a little differently knowing that there's the real truth behind it, knowing that these people are still living? Was there a different process for you in kind of trying to understand what they went through?

[1:56] Angela Kennedy: I mean, I think the process with an actor is to find the truth in whatever you're doing anyway. I think with this, you really had to dig deep, not act. Um, I think that and that was the overall direction is stop acting, just stop acting, just tell the story, discover the need of the scene, play that and pass it on.

[1:56] Josh Mitchell: Yeah, this show is so cool. Like just the mass ensemble effect, like there's not many shows out there that are like it, especially non-intermission musicals of sorts as well. So being on stage, and obviously as a standby, you get to cover different roles. What is that like for you?

[3:39] Angela Kennedy: Um, getting to go on for those different roles on different nights and get to experience the story from different perspectives. Incredibly stressful, but I mean, once you know the show and you get your head around all the staging, which is incredibly intricate, Kelly Devine's staging and choreography, working with these 12 chairs and a couple of tables, and of course, we've got I think there's 200 spikes on the deck on the floor, which you have to place all your chairs and so forth.

[4:26] Angela Kennedy: So, other than the staging and sort of freaking out which chair where and what number am I on and all of that sort of stuff, um the wonderful thing about being a standby is that you get to play. I mean, not just sort of play these other, you know, all the different characters, but you get to explore your diversity and your skills. Yeah, you go out, you're in the playpen and off you go and have fun whoever you are, but because the consistent need of the skill is to be honest and truthful, it sort of doesn't tend to be an acting challenge anymore once you know the stuff and the three million harmonies and all the different accents and the staging, which is stressful, you know, but once you're on and you're on that sort of electric train, I mean, once that Baudron goes at the beginning, you're on, it does not stop, and because it's an ensemble show and the cast are just so beautiful and everything's done with kindness and generosity in the spirit of the show, everyone's looking after your back, you know?

[5:55] Angela Kennedy: So yeah, it's a beautiful thing. What was your actual introduction to the show? How did you first kind of learn about this show and had you seen it before you got cast in it?

[6:10] Angela Kennedy: No, well, I was one of the ones who hadn't seen the little bootleg that was floating around before the auditions, so but they did send us the full script, which was wonderful, you know, you don't often get that in auditions.

[6:29] Angela Kennedy: Um so I just enjoyed reading that with no knowledge really. I did a little bit of sort of research of, oh, what is this and what is this about? You know, so I really sort of researched the people from Gander, Newfoundland, and their story.

[6:53] Angela Kennedy: Um so yeah, I'd seen a few sort of promotional clips. Yeah, I didn't know who was who or what was what, but I knew something special was going on.

[7:04] Josh Mitchell: Yeah. Going from page to stage, how was that transition for you? Like reading it? And obviously, when you read things like you pitch or something in your head, how did that translate to kind of what you're a part of now after reading it and going on stage?

[7:22] Angela Kennedy: Um really well. I think because I hadn't seen it, it was, you know, sort of a privilege really to just start at the beginning with the word, you know, and transitioning was extraordinary.

[7:39] Angela Kennedy: I mean, I remember us all first day at the rehearsals, and the requirement for that was everyone had to be off book before the first day of rehearsals, and the standbys had to be off book with two characters. We hadn't had any sort of accent work, dialect work.

[8:01] Angela Kennedy: Um, so you just sort of had to bring, you know, off book on the first day. That was extraordinary and a really weird thing to do without the process to begin with.

[8:16] Angela Kennedy: Um, but there's no way you can stage this with a script in your hand, full stop. It's just impossible because it moves so quickly. But we were very lucky that the table work once we, you know, started was long.

[8:36] Angela Kennedy: You know, we were table working for at least 10 days before anyone stood up, and then of course, dropping in all the music and the music, um, a lot of the dialogue, it's all underscored. So it's uh yeah, wow, it's bringing it all back to me now, and it was such an exciting process. Um, but thank God we were off book, so we could just yeah, start afresh. And speaking of doing afresh, you're kind of getting to do that right now, getting that kind of reset into the reboot of the show of you guys coming back after lockdown. So, what's it been like kind of um getting back together with like the whole company getting to kind of restage this show ready to go back in front of audiences?

[9:32] Angela Kennedy: Oh, totally. So we've got five new cast members, and um, which includes a couple of more standbys. So we've got actually um uh three uh four four females and four male standbys now just to cover the show because of COVID and the whole whole thing. Um it's been fantastic. We've gone back to the beginning and we sat down and did the tablework again because all the new people needed to know the beginning um of the story, how it happened, watch all the videos together, cry together as we're you know, watching all the documentaries on 9/11. And then yes, we were able to sort of discuss the show. The other thing is the associate director and choreographer are with us at the moment from America after they're doing their you know, quarantine and so forth here, and they've done the show two more times since you know we opened oh what was it?

When do we open, what is the year? Does anyone know the year? Um we opened in yeah um what was it July 2019? So they've done a couple more productions since then, they've been refining everything that this show can be. I mean, it's always been in a glorious place, um, but it's even more detailed and more refined. And as the director said, he said, you know, we're actually different people now. You know, since March we of last year, we're different, the world is different. How are we gonna approach the work now? And we all had to sort of question that. Um, so it's even more nuanced now. I mean, I can't wait for everyone to see it. It's just it's in a beautiful place at the minute. We've got all the wonderful new energy of the new people. Um, and it just it means more than ever.

[11:50] Angela Kennedy: Yeah. I just like got a little emotional through that whole thing. That's it. Yeah, I did a little bit too. The fact that people are thinking, cool, people are gonna approach the arts differently, they're gonna walk back into a theater. I remember the first time I went to see Frozen and walking back into that theater, like I was like, I'm back in a theater, like just walking through the doors. It was like, oh wow, okay, I'm actually here. Yeah. So how and it just meant a little more being able, I'm actually literally crying. Um being able to like watch a show and like see performers and just like, guys, it's gonna be so special for you guys going to see this show. I kid you not, like yes, and for audiences to come and have a communal experience together.

Um once again, and that's what theater is in that moment, in that time to go on that journey, and this particular journey is extraordinary. I mean, we're sort of struggling with tears at the moment through the show while we're doing it, and we've got to get that out of our systems because we're revisiting it, and personally we're having all these um experiences because of the story again, and um, it's good, we've got to get it out of our system. So we hand it over to the audience and they can go on the journey while we tell this story.

[13:16] Angela Kennedy: You mentioned um different dialects and um that type of thing earlier. How many different kind of accents and that type of thing do you have to cover in this show? Ah, now here we go. Well, uh there must be about 10 different accents in the show because the show isn't just about the Newfoundlanders, it's about the come from a ways. So the Newfoundland people call anyone who's not from Newfoundland the aways, and so yeah, the come from a ways, so it's about the passengers as well, and they're from all over the world when they are grounded and stranded in Newfoundland for five days. So we have all sorts of American accents, southerners and um, you know, and then we've got sort of English people and French people, and and then of course we've got uh the the Hindis and the South Africans and the I mean it it's just it's everything.

It's a great kind of expression of multiculturalism on stage as well, with like diversity of actors and everything like that. It's just a fantastic celebration of life, I think. This show, um, from how you should treat people just to being able to express different cultures and that type of thing on stage. I absolutely love this show.

[14:45] Angela Kennedy: Um to wrap things up, Angela. What is your favorite moment in the show? Oh, come on. My one favorite moment, one favorite moment. Well, I tell you what, I was having a little tear the other day. Luckily, I was looking up over onto stage left up into the wings where we're all still. And um it's revealed. Oh should I say that? I don't know. Most people, it's a moment listening to this would have seen the show, you mean? Probably. This episode's coming out about two weeks after you open. So most people probably by now, if you're listening to this, you've seen it. Well, I won't give it away, but there is a beautiful relationship that develops between two people in the show. Um Beulah, who is a Newfoundlander.

Um, she's head of the school there, and um and Hannah, who's a passenger, and her son is uh part of the first responders at the scene on the day, and she doesn't and she spends those five days trying to find out what's happened to him. Anyway, it's the moment in the show where um Beulah and Hannah communicate about that, and it gets me every time. Yep, I just got like a massive rush of chills, just well, guys.

[16:27] Josh Mitchell: That emotionally charged ending. We are gonna wrap things up there. Thank you so much, Angela, for coming and chatting. Um it's a pleasure to have you here. And for you guys at home listening, if you want to catch Angela, any of the other cast members that we're having here on the show uh in Come From Away while it's here in Australia, make sure you're doing it. Um check out comefromaway.com.au for more ticket information. And we will see you next week with a brand new episode of the We Are Theatre Podcast. Bye guys.