Review: Bliss

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All photos: Brett Boardman.

POSTED: 05 NOVEMBER 2009

Bliss, by Olivier Choiniere

Bareboards Productions & B Sharp | Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills, Sydney | Until 22 November

If you’re used to the normally dim, close space of Downstairs Belvoir, you may be taken aback when you enter for Bliss. It’s glaringly bright, white, and surprisingly spacious. Most alarming of all, however, is the muzak version of Purple Rain that assaults your ears!

Canadian playwright Olivier Choiniere’s Bliss is a surreal whirlwind — funny, frenetic and fantastic, in the most literal sense of the word.

What starts off as a fairly innocuous piece, with four supermarket workers preparing for their day, steadily builds to a crazy concoction of reality, fantasy, and Celine Dion.

By means of the ever-burgeoning mass of magazines that feast on celebrity — and if tragedy and voyeurism can be mixed in, so much the better — we see the lives of uber-diva and Canadian sweetheart Dion, the heartrending Isabel, and Caro/Oracle (Krew Boylan) entwine.

A witty and increasingly grotesque observation of contemporary life unfolds, exploring how the lives of others can start to take on more significance than one’s own ... especially when confronting the mundaneness of everyday existence.

Boylan is superb in her depiction of the three women. She transforms from one to the other at breathtaking speed, all the while decked out in the bland nylon uniform of the shop assistant.

Downstairs Belvoir is an excellent venue for such a spectacle, as one can easily see every expression. And Boylan’s face is compelling and hilarious to watch.

Simon Corfield, Libby Fleming and Matt Hardie are also tremendous as they interact with Dion/Isabel/Caro. Choiniere’s script relies heavily on speedy, sharp responses and the troupe work together extremely well to achieve this.

Justin Nardella’s set — packed with everything from Twisties to Ajax (and of course, magazines) — provides the basis for the comical and occasionally gross use of props. Verity Hampson’s lighting complements the action, from Dion’s spotlights to the bald fluorescence of the supermart.

Shannon Murphy has directed a tight, snappy production that may at times be challenging to follow. But it’s a hell of a ride. Très bizarre.

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