The Southwestern College Summer Theatre Festival will present the musical “Big Fish” on Friday, June 30, and Saturday July 1, at 7:30 p.m., and on Sunday, July 2, at 2 p.m., in the Richardson Performing Arts Center (RPAC).

Director Allyson Moon says that the audience will have the opportunity to sit in the RPAC’s auditorium seats or they may sit on stage.

“The staging of ‘Big Fish’ is done from the perspective of being in the round,” Moon says.   “Audience members will be on all sides of the action.  The accompaniment will also be on stage. With a show that has scenes that include being at the edge of a river, in a circus, at a USO production, and a wild West saloon, this theatrical experience is constantly surprising.”

“Big Fish” centers on Edward Bloom, a traveling salesman who lives life to its fullest. Edward's incredible, larger-than-life stories thrill everyone around him – most of all, his devoted wife Sandra. But their son, Will, who is about to have a child of his own, is determined to find the truth behind his father’s epic tales.

According to Moon, audience members on and off stage will have the opportunity to participate in the action when Edward starts telling a larger-than-life tale.  There is even a scene with soldiers in which audience members will have a chance to dance with them.  Moon stresses that this audience participation is not a requirement, but it is just a fun and unusual opportunity.

This isn’t the first time that Moon has directed a show staged in the round, but it is the first time she has done it in this space.

“Roger Moon paved the way when he staged the spring musical in RPAC in this way,” Moon says.  “It is challenging for the director and the actors.  This plays is about the lives of the Bloom family and those they touched, and who touched them.  This staging allows the audience to get to know them so much better.  Instead of just looking at the stage picture, audience members get to be in it.”

Brian Winnie is the music director and Sheila Harding is the choreographer.  

Tickets are $6 for youth, $10 for seniors, and $12 for adults.  To reserve tickets, call (620) 221-7720, email boxoffice@sckans.edu, or go online at www.sckans.edu/summertheatre.