Bliss

A wild and slippery fantasy from French-Canadian writer Olivier Choiniere, translated into English by Caryl Churchill, exploring our insatiable appetite for private lives made public.

Welcome to Wal-Mart. On their break, a cashier and her fellow workers flick through celebrity gossip magazines. ‘See You Later, Celine,’ says a headline. What’s wrong with Celine? Why is she turning her back on her glamorous public life, her adoring fans? And how is her story connected to the story of an unknown woman on the facing page? It’s not. Until the Oracle intervenes.

Bliss was first performed in this translation at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, London, in March 2008.

‘A small bombshell… a hideous glimpse of the cruel logic of celebrity-worship’
- Guardian