REVIEW | Midas, Park Theatre
★ ★ ★ ★ .5
Reviewer - Russell
*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review
Full house for the third night in a row, of this short run at the Park Theatre to see the excellent ‘Midas’ written by Martin Murphy and expertly directed by Amy Allen. Good news travels fast and this is an excellent contemporary take on the classic King Midas and his Golden Touch.
A terrific young cast and some more seasoned pros take you on a surreal and occasionally mythical journey through this timeless story about a father being given his wishes for everything he touches turning to gold.
We start off at a wild hedonistic party set somewhere in Finsbury Park where a young girl's drunken antics with a ‘Dancing Bear’ end up unwanted on the internet. Not sure what the ancient Greeks would have made of a ‘Dancing Bear’ or TikTok, but that would have felt right at home with the destruction and carnage at this North London get-together.
The clever use of music and dance at times proves captivating. And we get to see that nothing has really changed in the last couple of thousand years. Greed and lust and envy and self-interest and pride and wrath are as strong now as they’ve ever been, who knows, perhaps even stronger with the benefit of all the technology available to everyone nowadays.
Midas himself is a decent enough father, he loves his daughter and yeah ok, he’s prone to the occasional affair, you can’t hold that against a fella whether he's from Ancient Greece or Crouch End, right? Well maybe you rightly can nowadays, but nonetheless, when he’s offered the opportunity of being able to ‘influence’ everyone around him he takes it and rides the rollercoaster of outrageous fortune. He has his moments of glory helping his clingy artistic daughter achieve fleeting fame and success on the internet, but ahhh as we all well know, from reading King Midas at junior school, the Gods giveth and then the Gods cometh and biteth you on the backside-eth and then the Gods taketh away.
Yep, things turn sour pretty quickly and poor old Midas ends up in a bit of a pickle.
What have you done for me lately Midas?
He gets cancelled. Big time. Well, obviously he comes a cropper or it wouldn't be a classic fable, would it?
Poor old Midas. All he is left with is his devoted daughter and the chance to reflect on his crazy behaviour and the judgment of his former fake, poisonous friends.
The moral of the story is about kindness and being careful what you wish for, as fame and fortune aren't all they're cracked up to be. Your life might be better than you realise.
A very thoughtful piece with some great comedy lines and a powerful take on greed and human nature which shows the strengths of the writer Martin Murphy. I hope to see a lot more from Murphy, his writing is always original, funny, clever, and dare I say, here his touch has turned this timeless piece to gold.
We do need to mention the cast. A number of the young actors involved were unearthed at the Park Theatre’s workshops that Murphy and director Amy Allen run, and there really are some promising talents on display here alongside some more seasoned actors who bring a sense of gravity and order to everything.
Your last chance to see the show is Saturday 19th of August.
‘Cos you are gold… GOLD!!
Always believe in your soul-hole…etc etc’
A really strong, funny, absorbing, enjoyable take that’s worth a golden 4.5 stars.
