We sent our reviewer James to watch Bliss
Despite the team at Pleasance being brilliant, gaining entrance to the Grand through the crowds of people, can still be a little confusing, and you can end up going back and forth a lot. In a similar way, I have gone back and forth a number of times trying to collect my thoughts on new musical Bliss.
Bliss is ok. But with all the money and production behind it, it probably should be significantly better than that. Seeing shows come to Fringe on a shoestring with limited teams, oftentimes just the performer, and pull off unique, interesting, important work that is still beautifully crafted and executed, you really expect more from something like this.
Set in a fictional fairytale kingdom, Bliss follows four princesses as they escape the tower where they have lived all their lives and try to make their way in the outside world where fairy godfathers and princes and balls may not be all they seem.
The bliss-ful things: There is a heck of a lot of talent both on and backstage. The acting, singing, and dancing from a surprisingly large cast is pretty excellent across the board; the live band and sound design is great; the costumes are beautiful; the set, although understandably comparatively sparse, is impressive. A special shout out to the lighting design, in particular the clever abstract backdrop which adds atmosphere and conveys mood, and weather, and even a comet early on.
The less bliss-ful things: The book is messy and sometimes lacks internal logic. The show’s important feminist message is too often either muddied in contradictions or else delivered with such heavy-handedness that it is completely undermined. The motif of finding your own path outside of societal convention is hard to take seriously when the main protagonist is very conventional, but just happens to like science a lot, and the true outsiders are left once again in comedic supporting roles. There is weirdly also a strange undertone of homophobia which sits uncomfortably. There are some moments where it looks like the piece will finally break these strictures and really take off, for example the first song at the Pink Lagoon, but each time it plays it safe and lands somewhere more generic. Cynically, this may be intentional to give it a broader general appeal. But it also means that it will never surprise you, never be brilliant.
The songs are again fine and well delivered, although the opening feels so close to a number from SIX (one of the inspirations for the piece) that I almost worried I had the wrong venue. It is also unfortunate in a feminist musical that this song is delivered to a man, the princesses’ father, and that other male characters, the prince and the fairy godfather, get the best tunes.
Bliss has already proved popular and, as noted, there is a lot to like, but if you’re looking for a real, interesting, satisfying Fringe experience, it might not be the first fairytale castle I’d call at.
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