Review: Bliss (Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh)

Review by Seth Wilby

⭐⭐⭐

Recently, the Edinburgh Fringe has seen an influx of new musicals hoping to replicate the success of shows like Six and Hot Mess and be catapulted to greater heights. Billed as the biggest musical of the Edinburgh Fringe, and backed by the behemoth ATG Productions, Bliss is the show trying to do just that for 2026, settling down in the 750-seater Pleasance Grand following several workshops in the UK and the US. But would this be an exciting step towards this production’s happily-ever-after, or just smoke and mirrors?

Set in your bog-standard fairytale kingdom, Bliss follows four sisters, locked in a tower for years, as they venture into the outside world and find that perfection has a price. Written by Emma Lively and Tyler Beattie (jointly credited for book, music and lyrics), the story unfortunately lacks clear messaging, feeling slightly soulless as style is prioritised over substance and we’re left wondering what it was all for. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of thought has clearly been put into an important lesson of authenticity over conformity, but the whole production seems shaped around this. It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before, and all too under-explored to feel fresh.

It’s an important message that offers nothing new, instead resorting to cliched tribulations that see no twenty-first-century adaptation (and don’t even get me started on the unnecessary and misplaced fatphobia). The script sees clear and clever influence from pre-existing fairytales, with plotlines evocative of The Little Mermaid, Rapunzel and more (including one particular moment feeling awfully similar to Bad Cinderella, which I thought we’d managed to move past as a community). Yet, there is no attempt to break the rule book and turn these tropes upside down. 

Our protagonist, Piper, is a first-hand witness to most of this. Beginning the show as a smart and passionate young woman, her naivety is exposed when she makes the detrimental choice to ‘dip’ (essentially a mix of plastic surgery and hallucinogenics, it seems, which makes her character development essentially non-existent during the second half). Despite being embodied exceptionally well by Akshara Gunda, who brings a juvenile innocence and some stunning moments of belting power, the writing doesn’t do Piper justice- her motives don’t make sense and go totally against the strong and candid personality she’d displayed up to her fateful decision.

Some of that might be due to the time constraints inflicted by the Fringe. Running at eighty minutes, it’s evident that this was intended to be a more complete, two-act show (they don’t even attempt to disguise where an interval would be slotted in). While this cannot justify an undeveloped narrative, it does prove that there is clear room for expansion, and what I saw had the potential to grow into an excitingly youthful new musical. However, the cuts made for this production are misplaced, choosing to lose detail from all plotlines as opposed to simply removing the minor subplots. 

This is clearest in the neglected arcs of Piper’s three sisters. While the adorably ditsy Poppy (a stand-out performance from a genuinely hilarious Matilda Shapland) escapes mainly scot-free, Alexandra Emerson-Kirby’s spirited Carmella is left to come across shallow and one-dimensional, and Miriam Nyarko’s fierce Faye has her over-telegraphed plotline tied up in thirty underwhelming seconds. Despite strong performances (and glorious vocals to match) and inoffensive plotlines, the team need now to jump on the opportunity to present four important female-led stories, instead of revolving it all around one tired moral.

The writing does, however, succeed in character-establishment. We almost instantly become familiar with the personalities of the four sisters, with the three supporting male characters appearing, seemingly deliberately, more archetypal (although this does veer too close to pantomime territory often). Tom Bennett’s Fairy Godfather Glimmermore oozes with charisma in his many scene-stealing moments (someone cast Bennett as Fagin in Oliver now, please), Cameron Johnson’s King has a booming presence, and Jordan Calloway lends a charming boyband persona to Prince Devin. Where the writing fails in development, it succeeds in establishment, proving the possible potential from a further explored script.

The best, and most enjoyable, moments of the show come from the electric soundtrack- a consistent array of upbeat ditties and ballads that make you tap your toes and shimmy your shoulders. Performed by great vocalists, these tunes wouldn’t feel out of place in the best jukebox musicals, and could effortlessly fit into the modern musical theatre landscape. Lively and Beattie are compelling lyricists with a gift for catchy melodies, and I’d be very intrigued to see how they could expand the score’s diversity in a future production.

Creatively, the show stands out on a fringe stage from grandeur alone, although I’m doubtful its style-over-substance approach would be far less triumphant when removed from the surroundings of low-budget Edinburgh Fringe shows. Sheryl Kaller’s direction has a majestic elegance, but does not take into consideration the space (far too much takes place towards the front of the floor-level stage, leaving much blocked from the large audience). 

Filling the stage is a large, enthusiastic ensemble, but Josh Prince’s basic choreography fails to infuse them with energy. Paloma Young’s costume design is modern, teenaged, and characterful, and Jason Ardizzone-West’s set is simple yet dazzling, featuring storybook-esque stage pieces sliding across the stage with a tangled neon web providing vital atmosphere from Jai Morjaria’s lighting, although it would’ve been nice if the direction had utilised the height of the set more.

Ultimately, Bliss feels like a work-in-progress, full of potential but not doing itself justice in this current form. Suffering from a tonal uncertainty, the production needs to settle on a tween target audience, who would surely get invested in much of the show’s vibrancy should it remove both the adult lines confusingly slipped in and the patronising attempts to swing towards younger children. The messaging needs developing, and any risk of becoming more pantomime than musical should be avoided (particularly the ridiculous ending for our villain, which elicited awkwardly painful laughs from my audience). At the moment, Bliss is a musical of potential, with a fun soundtrack ensuring it provides 80 minutes of joy, just so long as you don’t think about it too much.

Bliss plays at Pleasance Courtyard (Grand) at 13:00 until 31st August. Tickets from https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/bliss

Photos by Marc Brenner