A Single Tear by Jonathon Coombs

                Have you ever had a moment where you know something sad is about to happen so your eyes begin to water before anything has happened? Well, that’s what happened to me on the 18^th of March this year while viewing Big Fish in the Speakeasy theatre. I know the part I teared up on was a bit cliché, but it still touched me. Don’t worry, I’m not going to spoil anything in this review.

                Big Fish, in the nature of its title, deals with a struggle of knowing a person who makes up tales of their accomplishments. This is the conflict that carries the plot of the story, with the main character Will trying to find out who his father Edward really is. In my obviously professional opinion, it is a story that hits incredibly close to home. I find enjoyment from telling stories and entertaining the people around me. So I saw myself in the Edward character, as I know the feeling of wanting to tell incredible stories instead of things that actually happened.

                The singing is well done, as it doesn’t feel forced. In most musicals the singing seems to happen in a different dimension then the rest of the play. Events where characters start coming on stage to sing and then disappearing after it’s done. In Big Fish, there is a reason for each song to be sung and for the people that are singing it to be singing it. Whether a character is telling another a story or is explaining frustration the songs and singing go along very well with the plot. As well, most musicals set a bit of a barrier in my opinion from a character when they are singing and when they are not. To me most musicals- I haven’t seen very many but I’ve acted in quite a few- take a bit of humanity away from a character when they are singing, putting the emphasis and focus on the singing instead of staying in character. In this play the actors remember that they are still being a character when they sing, and put their characters emotions behind the singing to drive it home. Also, a point to make is the instrumentation behind it. I feel sad that the musicians weren’t given more credit other than a mention in the program and a point offstage at the end of the play. The music, in any case, is or should be the crutch that holds up a song. This can be for songs in musicals and songs in general. The music in this play is not only the crutch, but something that begs to be listened to. I had to stop myself from getting lost in the instrumentation because I knew that important plot was happening. You can take that as a god or a bad thing, because while it sounds really good it’s not a good thing that I want to be listening to the music alone.

                I feel like I should mention the set, the props and the quality of the acting. But I won’t. I feel that the others in this Winterim will focus on those aspects more than the music and singing. So I will leave them to write about those, and if they don’t, then I guess you’ll just have to see the play to figure that out.

                Overall, I give this a see. One reason I only say this is really because of the experience I had inside the theatre before the play and with the program. I have never seen so much self-promotion in a theatre before and it felt a little much. Maybe it was just from the somethingith anniversary they had and a special sale they had because of it. It just lasted forever, and I did not appreciate that. So, go see this play if you want something to break the monotony of everyday life and want to see characters that have humanity in them.

                Rating: One tear out of breaking down sobbing in the middle of a theatre. This is a good thing, because you don’t want people to know you cried at it. So one tear is perfect because you transfer all of your emotions through that one tear, and then you can hide it. So see the show.