In her younger years, Katherine Mansfield led a scandalous life. The New Zealand writer was somewhat of a rebel, and it's this side of her personality that is portrayed in Bliss. Written and directed by Fiona Samuel and starring award-winning actress Kate Elliott, the Sunday Theatre production delves into the short story-writer's hunger for experience.
"She was a very passionate woman," says Elliott, who breathes flirtatious, vivacious life into the character. "She's very alive ... This is a very youthful, exuberant Katherine. As all these things happen to her and then she became more withdrawn and insular."
At age 19 and known as Katie Beauchamp, the young writer struggles to find much to look forward to. It's the early 1900s and the majority of her friends are getting married and planning their futures as housewives. Katie, meanwhile, dreams of travelling, much to the disappointment and frustration of her parents, particularly her mother, who balks at the sexual content of her daughter's writing.
Desperate to leave home, she arrives in London with a small allowance. During the next year of her life, everything changes: the ambitious Mansfield takes singing lessons and plans to go on the road with a performing arts company. She also causes a stir wherever she goes, falling in love, breaking hearts and polarising people.
Rather than focusing on her literary life, much of the drama comes from Mansfield's tumultuous love life; her intense relationships with both men and women. There's the early love with family friend Garnet, through to a short-lived marriage and steamy affairs across Europe. Mansfield's difficult relationship with her mother is also explored.
