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Eric Bunnell's People: 'Opening up to people from away'

St. Joe's students set to share the story -- and the message -- of Come From Away

Events of 26 years ago are echoing today on the stage of a St. Thomas high school.

They are the real-life stories of how small-town residents of Newfoundland welcomed and took in close to 8,000 strangers whose planes were forced to land at Gander following the 9/11 terror attacks.

Eric Bunnell's People: 'Opening up to people from away' Back to video

They are told in the mega-hit Canadian musical, Come From Away.

And students at St. Joseph’s Catholic high school will be sharing them starting next week when the school becomes one of the first to stage the show following its release for community theatre production.

“This is one of those opportunities where we have a Canadian story that we actually can tell on our stage,” drama teacher Robert Bannerman, who is directing with colleague Brooklyn Pritchard, says.

“We’re always telling stories about other parts of the world, or fantasy, or things like that. But to have something that actually is a part of Canadian history, and recent Canadian history, is an important part.”

And though the horror of 9/11 took place long before any of the students involved in the production were born, Robert and Brooklyn – who was just six months old at the time – say Come From Away resonates to the point where there have been tears in rehearsal.

“One of the central ideas is community and keeping our doors open, which is relevant all the time, I think, no matter how long ago this story happened,” Brooklyn says. “It kind of feels like a long time ago for us younger people, but that’s the central idea: we need to keep our doors open to others.”

And she says that’s particularly relevant at St. Joe’s.

“That’s big part of our community here as a Catholic school, is opening up to people from away.”

Though just 16, student actor Brielle Willemse, who plays a lead role of Beverley, the captain of one of the planes, gets it.

“It really brought people together, is what I am realizing. Even though it was such a horrible event, in the end, a lot of people grew relationships out of it. . . .  It’s something that bonded people.”

Come From Away is her second St. Joe’s show and she’s loving the experience.

“I think probably building........

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