Behind A Ghost Among the Living: Noel Byrne on adapting Edgar Allan Poe for the Edinburgh Fringe stage

Edgar Allan Poe's tales of fear, obsession and the supernatural are brought to life in A Ghost Among the Living, Box Tale Soup's new production. We caught up with Noel Byrne to discuss adapting Poe's most iconic stories for the stage, the power of puppetry in Gothic storytelling, and the inspiration behind the company's darkest show to date.

Edgar Allan Poe's stories have terrified readers for nearly two centuries. What is it about his work that still resonates with modern audiences, and why did you feel now was the right time to bring these tales to the stage?

Poe had a tough life, and a lot of different struggles. Perhaps as a result of that, I think Poe understood something fundamental about fear. His stories aren't really about monsters or ghosts, they're about guilt, grief, obsession and the darker corners of the mind. Those things don't date. We still recognise those emotions today, even if the world around us has changed enormously.

Often we've chosen our next project, but this show was actually a commission. The Clark Library in Los Angeles has a fascinating Poe collection, and they asked us to create something based on his work. The wonderful thing about being given a commission is that it often takes you down a road you didn’t expect, so this has been an enjoyable challenge.

The show combines several of Poe's most famous stories and poems into a single narrative. How did you decide which works to include, and what challenges came with weaving them together into one production?

Poe wrote an extraordinary range of stories and poems, so there was a huge amount of material to choose from. We started by reading as much as we possibly could!

We needed both variety and cohesion - we chose tales that have their own unique atmosphere, so that we could play a different theatrical ‘game’ with each story. We also felt it was important to have a thread that tied it all together, so we then looked for elements that could compliment each other, and gradually began building a narrative around them, inspired by Poe’s life and style.

It was a huge challenge, as we didn’t want to impose our own narrative voice, but rather draw out what is already there in Poe’s writing. Audiences will recognise plenty of familiar moments, but hopefully they'll also discover a fresh twist on it all!

You've described Poe's writing as 'dark, strange and grotesque'. How does puppetry help you capture those qualities in ways that conventional theatre might not?

Puppets occupy a fascinating space somewhere between the living and the inanimate, they can heighten things immediately, which feels very appropriate for Poe's world. They can be unsettling, but they can also be strangely beautiful and deeply moving.

I love the way puppetry engages the imagination. It draws an audience in, as they complete the illusion themselves. Puppetry allows us to suggest transformations, supernatural events and unsettling imagery in ways that simply wouldn't be possible otherwise!

You were given rare access to the Clark Memorial Library's collection of Poe manuscripts, letters and first editions. What discoveries from that research most influenced the final production?

That was a remarkable opportunity. Reading Poe's original manuscripts and personal letters makes him feel much less like a literary monument and more like a real person - brilliant and complicated.

What struck me most was how tight, precise and careful his handwriting was. People often think of Poe’s stories as wild and visceral, which they can be, but Poe was also incredibly meticulous. Seeing the documents written by his own hand reminds you that every word is considered, every effect carefully engineered. That attention to detail definitely influenced our approach to the production.

The show draws inspiration from classic Hammer Horror films. How has that iconic visual style shaped the atmosphere, design and storytelling of A Ghost Among the Living?

Hammer films always understood that horror should be entertaining. They could be frightening, but they were also stylish, quite theatrical and sometimes gloriously over the top. That combination really appealed to us.

Visually, we've embraced that Gothic feel - shadows, lamplight, swirling smoke and mysterious archways. We wanted audiences to feel as though they'd stepped into an old horror film while still experiencing something that's unmistakably live theatre.

This is your thirteenth year at the Edinburgh Fringe. How has Box Tale Soup evolved over that time, and what makes this production different from your previous adaptations?

I think we've become more confident in our own voice, understanding our particular style. Our puppetry, design and storytelling have all become more ambitious over the years, but they've also become more refined. We still make everything ourselves, but we've developed a much stronger sense of what a Box Tale Soup show is.

I also think we've grown an audience that trusts us, that will come and see what we're doing even if they're not familiar with the work because they know the care and quality will be there. And of course, we don't want to let them down!

Each production feels different from the last because we don't just adapt the story; we try to reflect the voice and tone of the source material. This show draws together many of the things we've learned over the past thirteen years. It's probably our darkest show, and technically one of the most demanding. It's unmistakably Box Tale Soup, but I think audiences will also see us pushing into some interesting new territory.

A Ghost Among the Living is at the Edinburgh Fringe at Pleasance Dome, Queen Dome, 5 – 31 Aug 2026 (not 19), 12:25 (13:35)  Ticket information here: A Ghost Among the Living | Edinburgh Festival Fringe