This article considers neoliberal feminism and environmental concerns in Irene
Sankoff and David Hein’s musical Come from Away. While the musical is not directly
concerned with anthropogenic climate change, many types of sky appear as thematic and
metaphorical preoccupations in the piece: feminist blue skies, stormy Newfoundland ...
This article considers neoliberal feminism and environmental concerns in Irene
Sankoff and David Hein’s musical Come from Away. While the musical is not directly
concerned with anthropogenic climate change, many types of sky appear as thematic and
metaphorical preoccupations in the piece: feminist blue skies, stormy Newfoundland skies,
the clear skies of the American Dream, skies of terror, and skies of war. I argue that Come
from Away hides the tragedy of climate change in plain sight, in the sky. Undertaking a close
analysis of the showstopping number ‘Me and the Sky,’ sung by the airline pilot Beverly
Bass – based on the real-life woman of the same name – I observe the rift between neoliberal
feminist success, acts of terror, and the slow-moving tempo of a changing climate. Come
from Away’s celebration of neoliberal feminism is cut short in the song, but it foreshadows
the possibilities of a more successful recognition of the conjunction between feminist and
environmental awareness.
