A Ghost Among the Living at the Pleasance Queen Dome comes from the febrile minds of Box Tale Soup, an award-winning company and Fringe veterans known for using puppets, atmospheric sound, and inventive sets to fill the stage around just two actors. This time around, they bring to life a collection of sinister Edgar Allan Poe tales. Written by Antonia Christophers, Noel Byrne, and Mark Collier (who also directs), this hour-long production attempts to drag us deep into Poe’s disturbing, unsettling world. The narrator himself is anxious and hiding a secret, adding an extra layer to the narrative. You are even warned upon entry about dark themes, including murder, resurrection, buried alive, and opium use, which immediately whets the appetite!
There are some deliciously inventive moments throughout A Ghost Among the Living. At one point, a lectern flips open to reveal a miniature room with an old man sleeping in bed. The small-scale puppets, disturbingly naive and childlike in construction, draw you into the story, then there is a switch in scale and the actors portray the characters, and this keeps your attention rooted. The larger puppets used in other tales feature hauntingly symbolic faces that seem to come alive and project genuine emotion in the actors’ hands. The props, puppets, and sets are mainly created from recycled materials and designed and built by the actors themselves, with fascinating attention to detail.
Both Noel Byrne and Antonia Christophers give committed performances, fully integrating the puppets and moving the set and props with fluid precision. Yet, unlike their previous work, this production didn’t entirely grab me. My attention wandered at points when the density of Poe’s prose became impenetrable, despite all the theatrical flair.
The individual tales are short, the transition often linked by a beautifully sung Poe poem, composed by Dan Melrose. However, I found myself hoping the hour was nearly over before having to watch yet another grisly death or supernatural occurrence. The overarching narrative of A Ghost Among the Living fails to fully hold the show together; while dedicated Poe fans might be enthralled, by the end, I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. Then again, perhaps that is exactly how Poe is supposed to make you feel.
Listings and ticket information can be found hereÂ
