Rafael Tamayo as King Midas
Pay attention, class. How many of you know the story of King Midas with his Golden Touch? And you think of him as a seedy, greedy dude whose ability to turn everything he touched into gold backfired on him? Big, bland moral. What a yawner. That’s one perspective. But what if there was a human, vulnerable side to King Midas? Dig it with PrismCo’s production of their original adaptation of MIDAS, running through October 23 at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center, 223 W. Jefferson Blvd.
PrismCo, the passion-perfect Dallas performance art company that grounds its original works and adaptations of classic tales in pure movement while honoring their literary and intellectual spirit, interprets the MIDAS story in its customary quirky, fluid, emotionally satisfying and unique way. Surprised and initially reticent audiences find themselves lured into the first of two adjacent rooms at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center by the evening’s kinda geeky, genial host, King Midas (Rafael Tamayo), costumed in gold smoking jacket with matching gold cane. 
Midas voices his welcome and spins the tale (as constructed by imaginative company co-founder Katy Tye) in alliterative gibberish and gesture, first introducing the assembled crowd to his unusual talents (facilitated by Trigg Watson’s awe-inspiring magical skills, so palpably real up close and personal). Leading the bemused audience from room to room, Midas introduces his much beloved gold-plated wife and family and engages some in attendance in “participation” of a gentle variety. Returning full circle to the first setting, the audience learns why “all that glitters is not gold” as a final masterful act of Watson’s keen-edged magic concludes the performance. Directed by PrismCo co-founder Jeffrey Colangelo (a regional top flight fight choreographer), movement drives the emotional arc of the work, while the audience will find itself inspired to consider and feel the issues and realities evoked. Swordplay, dance and clowning interweave effectively.
PrismCo.’s take on the old story of Midas leads its audience down an aureate shaft to a private heart-mine of entertainment. Some chairs provided for sore-footed patrons, but standing in undefined space is the rule of Midas’ realm. The cast includes: Ky Cassandra, Jonah Guttierrez, Samuel Cress and Debbie Crawford. Original score by Jake Nice whimsically adorns.
Rafael Tamayo with Ky Cassandra
TICKETS: https://www.artful.ly/prismco/store/events/10025 or at the door
Check out PrismCo’s collaboration with special needs students at My Possibilities on the Oak Cliff Cultural Center walls.
Photos by Zack Huggins
criticalrant.com Alexandra Bonifield 