All painting isn't an act of theater, but it can be. Which is why the next Prism Co. show sounds as much like a live painting event as it does a play. That's the wonderful thing about this young, upstart company: They aren't just stretching the definition of what theater in Dallas looks like, they are also incorporating movement and materiality into their work in surprising, immersive ways. The last time we checked in with them, they were lugging 20 tons of sand into a warehouse to explore Aztec mythology. This time, they're playing with paint and wrestling with the genesis of humanity, and beyond that, the origin of art and war. Of course, all of this might be lost on someone who shows up to see the paint war.
Up Close and Personal at the Prism Co. Paint War from Voice Media Group on Vimeo.
Prism Co. founders Katy Tye and Jeffrey Colangelo created this show while they were in school at Southern Methodist University two years ago. They were both studying, and quickly becoming expert in, the art of physical theater. Tye can climb some mean aerial silks, among numerous other unique skills, and Colangelo is a rising fight choreographer. In this way, their partnership makes sense. They share this optimistic curiosity about things, which is why they've spent so much time exploring different materials, often challenging their accepted uses, and using them to bring to life recognizable stories and mythologies through mostly wordless theater. They've revisited Baba Yaga with elastics, and Pygmalion with paper.
"It all comes from a place of fun," says Colangelo. "We start with paint and we ask, what else can this be?"
"I don't think we'll ever run out of materials," says Tye. "But we're interested in all the elements, so if we can we'd like to do something at some point with fire."
Starting this weekend, Prism Co. takes over The Green Warehouse in Trinity Groves with Prism. After each show, a piece of art made from the spillover of the paint fight will be added to the concurrent exhibition by artists from the Haley Henmann Studio in the warehouse. Tickets to the show are $20 at artful.ly.