BLISS is a searing contemporary adaptation of three well known Katherine Mansfield short stories, brought to life in a colour-soaked production.

‘Bliss’, ‘The Woman at the Store’, and ‘The Doll’s House’ make up the three acts of this triptych, stories that platform female experience and interiority at different ages and stages of life. The stories explore sensuality, sexuality, class, isolation and shame in the experience of women.

BLISS celebrates Katherine Mansfield, one of New Zealand’s preeminent writers, and deftly weaves together her iconic texts with painterly visuals to create a lush and incisive exploration of identity and isolation in the UK and New Zealand. While Mansfield’s stories explore the lost and the lonely, her sharp wit and eye for the absurdities of life avoid them slipping too far into tragedy, providing a healthy dose of levity and colour.

Visually inspired by the impressionist painters and paintings that Mansfield was so struck by in her own life, the characteristics of which are reflected clearly in her writing, BLISS captures the feeling, atmosphere and sensations of these three stories, while maintaining total fidelity to her original words.

Featuring an ensemble cast of six New Zealand actors (plus a yet-to-be-cast child actor) and production elements from our most celebrated designers, BLISS will be a highly modern approach to classic literature.

BLISS is supported through the PANNZ Festivals Commissioning and Presentation Fund and will premiere in 2027.