REVIEW: Bliss

©️Bliss, Susan Edelstein Productions, ATG Productions and Gavin Kalin Productions

Playing at the Pleasance Grand, Bliss is probably the biggest new musical at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. It follows the adventure of four royal sisters who escape the tower where they have spent their lives, entering a world in which happily ever after comes at a cost.

The scale of the production is remarkable. The multi-level set creates a bright and changing fairytale world, while bold costumes and lively lighting add to the spectacle. The entire cast perform with commitment and deliver powerful vocals, while energetic choreography and a lively pop-rock score keep this magical world in constant motion.

Where the production is less assured is in its storytelling. The plot moves through a familiar series of obstacles, making much of the journey easy to predict. When the sisters attempt to leave the tower, they promise to complete a year of study in a single day and race through their work in one musical number. They then escape and meet the prince and the Fairy Godfather, before Piper transforms into the perfect Princess Bliss. The pace remains lively, although the brief conflicts scattered along the way have little time to gather real weight, leaving few opportunities for the characters to develop fully.

The story reaches its most moving point when the perfect princesses begin to wake. Their manufactured perfection has erased their personalities, while reclaiming their flaws allows them to become whole again. As they remember and embrace who they truly are, the story finds the emotional power within its subject. It is a genuinely affecting scene, and greater stakes leading up to it could probably give the moment even more force.

By the end, Glimmermore is defeated, the King recognises his mistake, and the story appears to have found its happy ending. Yet the main sources of conflict remain lightly drawn. The King confines his daughters in the name of safety, while Glimmermore controls women through the promise of perfection. Together, they suggest two forms of patriarchal control - one uses protection, while the other uses approval. The musical ultimately resolves both figures with a simple, family-friendly moral: the King is quickly forgiven, while Glimmermore leaves the stage with a comic tumble. This approach is surely understandable within an eighty-minute family musical, though it inevitably leaves some of the ideas hanging in the air.

In all, Bliss offers bright, enjoyable spectacle on the scale of a commercial musical, yet its story still runs on fairytale shortcuts. The limited running time may explain some of its hurried storytelling, and this production already contains much to admire. With more time to deepen its story, Bliss has every chance of becoming an even more powerful and inspiring musical.

For more information, please visit:
https://blissthemusical.com/
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/bliss?utm_source=web&utm_medium=hero

★★★

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