Bliss – Finborough Theatre
This is a new play by Fraser Grace, based upon a short story written by Andrey Platanov in 1936, and tells the story of Nikita Firsov, a soldier returning from the Russian Civil War in 1921. It is a portrayal of what we would now call the effects of battlefield PTSD, but which at that time was not specifically recognised, and also shows the grim reality of life for the rural peasantry in Russia at this time of famine and political upheaval.
The pace of the play mirrors the harshness of the prevailing conditions. It is slow-moving, with many pauses, and everything about the production contributed to depicting the dreariness and struggle of the life of the characters. The acting was universally excellent. Jesse Rutherford as the returning soldier, Nikita, and Bess Roche as the girl to wh...