Bliss - Pleasance Grand - Review

Four princesses, Piper, Carmella, Faye and Holly, are locked in a tower by their overprotective father taught to fear the outside world and focus instead on their rigorous academic training. Their bright young minds yearn for something more beyond the palace walls, and when astrology lover Piper  (Akshara Gunda) wishes to see a once in a life time comet, the sisters make their escape only to discover that their wishes, desires, loves and quirks may not be accepted beyond the tower in a world that treasures picture perfect, cookie cutter princesses.

As perhaps one of the largest productions with one of the bigger budgets of the fringe, Bliss fills the vast Pleasance Grand with both set and audience members gathered to witness a new fairy tale being born. It plays on elements of fairy tales that we all know and love such as princesses shut in a tower, fairy godmothers (or in this case god fathers), prince’s balls and strange spells all whilst trying to break the mould with high energy pop inspired numbers and glamorous costumes.

The four princesses are interesting and show great potential to shine, but with time constraints limiting the run time to around 80 minutes, there is a sense of could be rather than will be in the glimpses of each princesses story. Akshara Gunda’s princess Piper wants to be a star gazer, but upon meeting her fairy godfather (the brilliantly sassy and comical Tom Bennett), hopes of developmental growth are dashed when she makes the decision to ‘dip’, to become the cookie cutter predictable princess that the selfish prince desires with no time for a lesson well learnt conclusion. Miriam Nyarkos’ Faye could be a dragon slayer, her confidence dimmed by the sense of responsibility she feels to look after her sisters, but her tale feels brushed upon rather than explored.

Polly, who we assume to be the baby of the family, is played by Matilda Shapland. I have to admit to feeling old upon seeing her, as Matilda was actually the first child star I saw play the role of Matilda in Matilda the Musical back in around 2015. As the animal loving little princess she earns many of laugh, but again it feels that with more time there is so much more that could be done with her character. Finally, Carmella played by Alexandra Emerson-Kirby, wants to be famous. She is a character with real sass and attitude, but upon meeting the prince, it feels a shame that her character becomes nothing more than a girl who thoroughly believes that she is too ‘big’ to be loved. It’s 2026, surely this idea is outdated and should be left in the past.

The costuming and choreography feels slick, polished and entirely ready to step onto a larger perhaps west end stage. The songs are fun and catchy, and you will leave with a smile on your face. Bliss is big for a fringe show but there is this overall sense of needing more. The princesses deserve the time for their stories to run, we need to see more of the Prince and more of the godfather to understand quite how ‘dipping’ came to be. Should the show be rewarded with a longer running time in a run following the fringe, there is real potential here, but at it currently stands there are points that feel more preview glimpse then perfected story.