Sydney Reviews

Photo Brett Boardman

Some self-respecting tabloid mag readers (myself included) not only can tell you what Robert Pattinson’s favourite aftershave is, but also like to think about how this knowledge colours their world view. Bliss is for them.

Set in the muzak-filled aisles and checkouts of a supermarket near you, this play, by Québécois playwright Olivier Choinière (and translated by the celebrated Brit Caryl Churchill) is a whirling dervish of a piece which blows into the downstairs theatre at Belvoir, ready to whip you up into a frenzy the likes of which you may see at a Celine Dion concert. We meet some humble employees of this establishment, who leave the monotony of their working day behind to take the audience (and themselves) into the daily life of the queen of cheesy herself, Ms Dion. They relay their narrative (reported as fact – the trash-mag vultures among us know the stars lives better than our own). We journey from the closing moments of her concert tour to her temporary retirement from music to wait the birth of her child, and then the subsequent miscarriage. However, the proceedings then take a somewhat darker tangent, heading into a news story about domestic abuse of a young girl, a fan of Dion’s, and her brutal and loveless family life.

While this may all sound relatively straightforward, Bliss is anything but, as the narrative swings between realities, perspectives, characters and genres requiring its four cast members to perform some linguistic and theatrical callisthenics; sometimes baffling, but always enthralling; as the play heads to its conclusion where worlds meet in a moment of clarity.

It is a race call of a play, with each cast member reporting in third person what their character is doing, inviting viewers to view the story as they might if reading it in a glossy magazine during their lunchbreak at work. Perhaps the only flaw is that the piece is a tad too in love with its words, clever and sharp as they may be, and some monologues and moments outstay their welcome by a fraction. But this is only a minor quibble.

The cast – Krew Boylan, Simon Corfield, Libby Fleming and Matt Hardie – deserve full praise for bringing, and maintaining, truckloads of energy to a piece that requires nothing less than keeping their oomph turned up to 11 on the dial the entire time. They swing from earnest, to grotesque, to hilarious and much more. Tightly attuned to each other and the space, they are a dream team to watch.

Director Shannon Murphy keeps a firm, but fun, grasp on the material, and the staging and design team make excellent use of the intimate Belvoir space, with savvy and sometimes surprising use of lighting, sound and props, all without becoming too gimmicky or showy.

It’s smart, playful theatre. Bliss is a play which posits that celebrity news and “real” news have come to share their own particular validity. When it comes to reportage and entertainment, they’re both part of the same machine. We’re the audience to the world around us. We can applaud or gasp at our leisure.


Bareboards Productions presents
Bliss
by Olivier Choinière

Director Shannon Murphy

Venue: Downstairs Theatre | Belvoir Street, Surry Hills
Previews: Thursday 29 October, 8.15pm
Dates: 29 October - 22 November
Times: Tuesday 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday 8.15pm Sunday 5.15pm
Tickets: $29, Conc $23.
Bookings: http://www.belvoir.com.au