BlissWelcome 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. This wild and slippery fantasy from French-Canadian writer Olivier Choinière explores our insatiable appetite for private lives made public. In a new translation by Caryl Churchill, Bliss is "a clever, disturbing piece about the damage done by vicarious living" (Financial Times). Oliver Choinière founded the L'ACTIVITÉ Theatre Company in 2000 for which he has written and directed extensively. His French-language translations of English plays include Les Points Tournants (Passing Places) by Stephen Greenhorn and Road by Jim Cartwright. Caryl Churchill has written for the stage, television and radio. A renowned and prolific playwright, her plays include Cloud Nine, Top Girls, Far Away, Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?, Bliss, Love and Information, Mad Forest and A Number. In 2002, she received the Obie Lifetime Achievement Award and 2010, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. |
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baby black Chambermaid Bodyguard broom Caesars Palace Californian Doctor calling René Caro Caryl Churchill CÉLINE AND RENÉ Céline says chest of drawers comes COSMETICS Céline's Mother COSMETICS I say COSMETICS SALESPERSON COSMETICS The Biographer COSMETICS The Mother COSMETICS The Nurse COSMETICS The Nurse-Receptionist Court Theatre Upstairs crying DISPLAY ASSISTANT DISPLAY MANAGER DISPLAY DISPLAY The Brother DISPLAY The Psychiatrist door floor FUCKING hand incl Isabelle Isabelle's belly kitchen Louis-Ferdinand Céline Love lunch Mad Forest magazines from Quebec MANAGER DISPLAY MANAGER MANAGER René MANAGER The Doctor MANAGER The Father mirror mouth open Neighbour says Olivier Choinière ORACLE DISPLAY ORACLE ORACLE looks ORACLE MANAGER ORACLE ORACLE The Neighbour Orlando Gough Photographer picks plastic flowers Public Theater René's Royal Court Theatre Royal National Theatre SALESPERSON and DISPLAY Security Guard shut Skriker smile Stock on tour takes there's throwaway camera toilet vomits Wal-Mart walk York Theatre Workshop