Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks, Timothy Koh is directing Come From Away, Pangdemonium’s final production after 16 years of theatre-making.
The Olivier Award-winning musical runs at Victoria Theatre from 11 to 27 September 2026. Written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, it tells the true story of Gander, Newfoundland, where residents welcomed nearly 7,000 passengers after 38 international aircraft were diverted to the small Canadian town following the closure of US airspace on 11 September 2001.
The passengers arrived amid fear and uncertainty. In response, the people of Gander opened their homes, schools and community spaces, providing food, clothing, shelter and comfort to strangers from around the world. The town also accommodated 19 animals travelling in cargo.
For Pangdemonium Artistic Directors Tracie Pang and Adrian Pang, the story makes Come From Away a fitting final production for the company.
“As our final production, Come From Away reflects what Pangdemonium has always believed in – human connection, compassion, and doing something to try to make a positive difference in someone else’s life,” they say.
Rather than ending with a quiet goodbye, Pangdemonium is closing its journey with a musical about people choosing to care for one another during a moment of global crisis.
A story about humanity
For Koh, Come From Away is ultimately about the unexpected goodness that can emerge from tragedy.
“Come From Away is about how the worst tragedies can still, improbably, bring the best out of people,” he says. “I hope that this show inspires audiences to interrogate what it means to share humanity with people of different nationalities, races, religions, and sexual identities. We are all human and all part of one massive global community.”
That focus on shared humanity is also central to the Pangs’ understanding of the musical.
“Come From Away is an inspiring true story that shines a light on basic human decency in the darkest of times, and is a testament to how even in a climate of fear and hate, we all have it within our capacity to do good,” they say.
“Especially in a time when superpower states are building boundaries to separate us, this story shows us how individual humans and communities are still capable of building bridges to connect us.”
The musical’s story moves between residents, passengers, pilots, volunteers and family members, with the ensemble collectively carrying its narrative and emotional weight. Its performers portray multiple characters as the action shifts between different perspectives and locations.
The cast comprises Benjamin Chow, Inch Chua, Candice de Rozario, Rebekah Sangeetha Dorai, Sheila Francisco, Brandon Gill, Eric Larrea, Dwayne Lau, Gavin Leahy, Lim Yu-Beng, Victoria Mintey and Nadya Zaheer.
Directing the ensemble
Unlike a musical centred on one protagonist, Come From Away depends on the energy and interplay of its ensemble. Koh says his role is to maintain the production’s rhythm while creating space for the actors to contribute their own ideas.
“My job is to keep things constantly moving!” he says. “There are few traditional book scenes or solos, and this show is defined by keeping the heartbeat of the show alive as the storytelling shifts rapidly between characters and spaces.”
“If I effectively shape a playground for the actors, they can contribute and build upon my ideas. It’s so thrilling when that happens.”
The ensemble-driven structure also reflects Pangdemonium’s own approach to theatre. The company’s work has been shaped by the combined contributions of performers, creatives, crew members, collaborators and audiences.
For Koh, that collaborative spirit begins with listening.
“Listening to your team,” he says when asked what kindness looks like in practical directorial terms. “There are a lot of people in a musical. Whether it’s the stage manager, an actor, or a designer, listening to your team is the best kindness a director can offer to ensure everybody is able to do their best work.”
Koh’s musical debut
Although Koh has loved musicals since childhood, his artistic background has traditionally focused on new plays and classics. Preparing Come From Away has therefore required him to understand how music drives the storytelling.
“Definitely the music!” Koh says. “Although I have loved musicals since I was a child, my artistic history traditionally lies with new plays and classics. I had to properly understand the music and how it drove the storytelling in preparation for this show.”
He credits Music Director Joanne Ho and Vocal Coach Natalie Yeap with helping shape the production.
“Thankfully I have an amazing Music Director and Vocal Coach – Joanne Ho and Natalie Yeap – who have been instrumental in making sure the music sounds amazing.”
Koh first felt the show’s emotional power during the company’s initial full “sing through”.
“During our first proper ‘sing through’ – when the actors first read the script aloud in the room – I was nearly brought to tears at the finale,” he recalls. “Hearing it live with the actors and the piano in the room for the first time, it really hit me that we are creating a very special, heart-warming story together.”
“It reminded me why I do what I do,” he adds. “Theatre has the power to transcend boundaries and appeal to the core of our shared humanity.”
Staging a 9/11 story
The Singapore production opens as the world marks 25 years since the 9/11 attacks. Koh was seven years old at the time and remembers it as the first world-changing event he experienced.
“First and foremost, I approach this as a text to be interpreted,” he says. “If I focus too much on the fact that we are opening on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, I will doom spiral!”
Instead, Koh is concentrating on remaining faithful to the play’s emotional centre.
“So for me, it’s about doing right by the emotional core of the text, which, to my mind, does right by the emotional core of the tragedy,” he says. “I was 7 years old during 9/11. It was the first world-changing event that I remember happening. It’s a wonderful honor to be staging this show 25 years later.”
One line near the end of the musical particularly resonates with him. Lim Yu-Beng’s character says: “‘We honor what was lost. But we also commemorate what we found’.”
“I think this speaks to the core of the piece,” Koh says
The story of strangers helping strangers feels especially relevant to Koh in a period of social and political division.
“We live in an increasingly polarized society,” he says. “Mass culture has split into numerous little fiefdoms that rarely overlap. In some ways, we are more starkly separated than ever before.”
His hope is that the production can give audiences an opportunity to reconnect.
“I hope this show allows us to come together with joy and empathy in today’s climate.”
The Pangs similarly see Come From Away as an extension of Pangdemonium’s mission to challenge perspectives and build empathy through theatre. The musical celebrates “decency, kindness, empathy, compassion, selflessness, community, putting aside prejudices to make someone’s day a little better, going out of one’s way to do something positive for a stranger”.
They describe it as “a beautiful, uplifting, life-affirming musical that also challenges us to question ourselves – would we do that?”
Pangdemonium’s final curtain call
As Pangdemonium’s final production, Come From Away is both a farewell and a statement about the company’s legacy.
“This show is simply saying ‘after 16 years of drama and theatrics and fiction, here is a true story about real people doing ordinary things in an extraordinary time in our history. Let’s all take away something life-affirming, empowering, and inspiring from this. Onwards.’”
The choice of Come From Away allows Pangdemonium to close not with a story defined solely by loss, but with one that celebrates the human response to tragedy. Its final message is that compassion can cross borders, communities can welcome outsiders, and ordinary acts of kindness can have an extraordinary impact.
Performance details
Come From Away runs from 11 to 27 September 2026 at Victoria Theatre. The production lasts one hour and 40 minutes without an interval and carries an IMDA advisory rating for some mature content.
Captioned performances are scheduled for 16 September at 8pm and 26 September at 3pm. Tickets start at S$25 for selected U25 Youth Fund seats, while standard ticket prices range from S$45 to S$125 depending on the performance and seat category. SG Culture Pass credits can be used to purchase tickets.
Alongside the production, Pangdemonium will release Ass-Kicking Adventures in Theatre: The Pangdemonium Story, a limited-edition commemorative book documenting the company’s 16-year history. Limited to 500 copies, the book is priced at S$45 and can be purchased online, added to ticket orders or bought at Victoria Theatre during the show’s run.
Tickets are available at pangdemonium.com.
