Dracula is a story that has, quite frankly, been done to death (pardon the pun!). Whether it’s sexy/sauve Dracula, or grotesque/monstrous Dracula, it all tends to follow the same pattern, bringing nothing new to the story.

Plexus Polaire have dared to take a different approach by doing a production of Dracula from the perspective of Lucy, his first central victim. Not only that, but it is also heavily puppet-based.

Now I know our minds are probably collectively jumping to “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” for Jason Segal’s Dracula puppet musical, but I promise this is not a Henson-esque comedy musical about the vampiric Count Dracula.

“Dracula: Lucy’s Dream” is visually spellbinding from the moment the first puppet appears. The darkness needed to hide the puppeteers only adds to the creepiness of the story itself. I’m wary of revealing too much for fear of spoiling it, but there is an effect where the Dracula puppet turns in to a bat. Although it happens throughout the show, each time it’s as jaw-droppingly mesmerising as the first!

Lucy is played by several performers wearing the same wig and costume. This combined with Plexus Polaire’s masterful set design lends to mind-bending illusions of teleportation.

The show, however, does tend to drag from the middle to the end. The visuals, although impressive, tend to get repetitive, and because of the abstract nature of the performance, the audience can get lost in terms of the story. If an abstract-heavy movement piece is your forte and you have read Dracula, you may disagree with me, but as person who has a basic understanding of the story, I was lost as to what they were trying to convey.

The voiceovers also were attempting to do a Transylvanian accent, but it did not quite reach its mark. It may be worth re-recording in the actor’s original accent as it did take away from the story.

This is a high concept show that I feel has an audience in Edinburgh, I just feel it needs either shortening or perhaps a touch more dialogue to make more sense to help with flow.

⭐️⭐️⭐️