Such a Big Fish by Theresa Rauh

“That was my father's final joke, I guess. A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories.” This is a quote of the musical “Big fish” we visited last night. It is about a son trying to get to know and understand his father.

Edward Bloom always tells mysterious stories and fairy tales about his life. But there are so many different stories and versions, that his son fells he doesn’t really know him. Edward Bloom became a story himself for his son and the people around him. In telling the story of his life it is impossible to separate fact from fiction, the man from the myth. His son fears that the stories are hiding a darker history and they are. Sort of. Maybe. You don’t know what to expect concerning this man. He delights everyone around him with his “larger-than-life stories” as a salesman. When Edward Bloom is diagnosed with cancer and about to die, the family comes together and his son is starting to get to know and understand the stories and therefore the man. He finds out not only how his father met his mother but also how he left his little town he had lived in his entire life and saves it, as it is about to be drowned. Edward Blooms love towards his family can be seen in every aspect of all these stories. The big fish is an ongoing metaphor for Edward Bloom, who not only himself left his “own pond”, but also motivated other people to “move on”. It can also be seen for example as a metaphor for the relationship between Edward Bloom and his son. As Will Bloom discovers and gets to know his father’s “pond”, in which his father once was the “big fish”. The musical starts and ends with fishing a “big fish” and therefore in my opinion the connection is made, that someday even the biggest fishes are caught and brought out of the water and people start understanding each other’s actions, as the mysteries and stories about a person are uncovered and the element of truth comes out. The metaphor of the “big fish”, which goes through the entire story, can be interpreted in many different ways, which I really like.

The acting as well as the singing was pretty good. I really liked the stage settings too. They contained some interesting special effects, like knives throwing or images of the actors projected above the stage, to keep the stage setting entertaining. Also some of the costumes were really complex and imaginative. The fact, that the performance was a little kitschy in some ways can be seen more in a positive way in my opinion than in a negative way, because is also among other things a point that brought life in the show. Overall, I really enjoyed the show and liked the metaphor of the “big fish”.