Award-winning director Yngvild Aspeli brings Dracula – Lucy’s Dream to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026, reimagining Bram Stoker’s gothic classic through a striking and contemporary lens. Presented by Plexus Polaire, the show promises a visually rich and psychologically intense experience.
Blending life-sized puppetry with haunting storytelling, Dracula – Lucy’s Dream delves into the mind of Lucy, exploring themes of desire, fear and female emancipation. This bold reinterpretation transforms a familiar tale into an eerie and emotionally charged journey.
Dracula – Lucy’s Dream runs at Pleasance at EICC (Lennox) from 6–29 August 2026 (excluding 12, 19 and 26) at 17:30. Tickets are available here.
You’re the director of Dracula – Lucy’s Dream at Pleasance at EICC, what can you tell us about the show?
Dracula – Lucy’s Dream is a visual horror poem. It is strange and striking, beautiful and uncomfortable, and as haunting as Dracula himself.
This production reimagines Bram Stoker’s story through Lucy’s perspective. What drew you to exploring Dracula through a female lens?
Lucy is a fascinating and multifaceted character, and I wanted to see the story from her perspective and give her the narrative, liberating her from her role as eternal victim.
The goal was not simply to invert the roles, but instead to add nuance and show the complexity of dealing with a vampire, in any sense of the term.
The show uses life-sized puppetry to tell this story. How does puppetry enhance the emotional and psychological journey of Lucy?
Vampires are undead, and what is better to play something dead that comes alive than a puppet?
Using puppets allows me to enter an uncanny state of real and not real, dead but alive, and to embody the world of vampires through the interdependent relationship between the actor and the puppet.
It also allows us to create an out-of-body experience, showing the feeling of losing control over your own body and how traumatic experiences can affect your ability to fully live life.
Dracula – Lucy’s Dream explores themes of desire, fear and inner demons. How do these themes resonate with contemporary audiences?
These are universal and timeless themes that humans continue to grapple with. I believe in the power of storytelling and in art’s capacity to make you feel, think and react.
Telling the story of a vampire opens up different interpretations and echoes themes such as attraction and abuse of power, trauma and addiction. The context, however, will differ depending on the individual audience member and their own experiences.
Plexus Polaire is known for visually striking work. What can audiences expect from the design, staging and overall atmosphere of this production?
The best way to experience a show is not to expect anything and be ready for everything.
Dracula – Lucy’s Dream is like being the fly on the wall of someone’s dream. It is a poem and a live horror film, a full musical experience and an encounter with the forces of darkness.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Dracula – Lucy’s Dream?
Bring a piece of garlic just in case. After making this show, I think vampires actually exist. It is a show that might haunt you.
