Theatre fan says musical inspired acts of service

Lydia Greatrix said the idea for the community projects came after the UK Tour was announced

A theatre fan hoped to prove social action can be achieved in the arts and theatre industry by adopting the values showcased in a musical.

Lydia Greatrix, 25, from Colchester, first watched Come From Away in 2019, and has now seen the show 59 times.

The Olivier and Tony award-winning show tells of how residents in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, took in passengers who had been stranded when their planes were rerouted to the town after the US closed its airspace following the 9/11 attacks.

Ms Greatrix adopted the show's spirit of giving and at the tour's venues has organised food bank drives, litter-picks, beach cleans-ups and took a group of unpaid carers out for dinner.

She said: "When I started it in Leicester in March, we bought £50 of pet food... I didn't think it would grow into this."

The 25-year-old said the theme of giving, which runs throughout the show, aligned with her values and gave her "some hope in the world".

Come From Away is currently showing at Norwich Theatre Royal

The idea to "pay it forward" and help different communities linked to the show's tour was suggested by her friend Laura Townsend, who died in June 2023 after she was diagnosed with cancer. Ms Townsend had seen the show 150 times across the world.

Ms Greatrix said: "She was such a bright light in the fanbase... she was always paying it forward and being so kind, what better way to honour her or remember her than do this tour for her."

Ms Greatrix is also the UK ambassador for Pay It Forward 9/11, which was set up by Kevin Tuerff, who was one of the air passengers taken to Gander in 2001.

The fundraising efforts has also seen cast members get involved in the projects

The production is currently being performed at Norwich Theatre Royal, where a food bank drive has been taking place in aid of the Norwich Foodbank.

Ms Greatrix said one of the "real highlights" of the tour so far has been collecting 70 supermarket crates full of supplies for the Ipswich Housing Action Group.

She hoped the sentiment of her fundraising would carry on beyond the show's tour.

She said: "I hope it gives a signal to the theatre industry that things like this can be done, a difference can be made in your communities and social action can be done through the arts and through theatre."

John Brant, the producer of Come From Away, said he was "delighted" more people have been "inspired" by the show.

He said: "[Lydia] hasn't asked for anything very much, like the people of Gander... she wanted to honour her friend and follow our tour around at her own expense."

He said the company had left her to keep the project going and she "steamrolled" it.

"That is the message of Come From Away," he said.

"It's what [the show is] built on. It's built on a group of people from a very far flung place in the world [helping others]. They didn't ask for anything in return."