“Our show is this sort of modern twist on a Gothic classic (the 1872 novella Carmilla meets mid-century American moral panic) and that burst of innovation against a Gothic background really evokes EdFringe to me.”
WHO: Nina Brook-Lloyd
WHAT: “Lesbians, vampires and… communists? When love and desire are made monstrous, what beautiful monsters lovers make. Carmilla retells the lesser-known Gothic classic with a mid-century McCarthy twist. At the height of the Lavender Scare, Laura faces scrutiny over her entanglement one summer six years ago with an allegedly perverse and dangerous woman: Carmilla. What was once a cautionary tale, detailing the dangers of female sexuality, is reimagined as a queer love story. Charismatic, introspective and seductive – this show is a must-see.”
WHERE: Greenaide @ Riddle’s Court (Venue 16)
WHEN: 12:40 (50 min)
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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
Personally – yes. It’s my first time working on a production for the Fringe at least, and Edinburgh during the Fringe feels like a completely different city.
Other members of the Production Team are more familiar with EdFringe. Our Director (Poppy Kimitris) and Producer (Orsoyla Haynes) have both worked on other Mermaids at the Fringe shows in previous years – though they were on-stage then rather than off.
Our show is this sort of modern twist on a Gothic classic (the 1872 novella Carmilla meets mid-century American moral panic) and that burst of innovation against a Gothic background really evokes EdFringe to me. Edinburgh is a city deeply associated with the Gothic and EdFringe is this explosion of new and boundless creativity – our show fits quite beautifully into that juxtaposing environment.
As an audience member flâneurring about last year’s EdFringe, I stumbled upon a wealth of wonderful queer theatre. Those shows were a massive inspiration when this show was but a twinkle. EdFringe and festivals like it offer a great space for queer theatre.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2025 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
I think the process of writing this show has tried to teach me a lot of lessons, about perfectionism and passion, though I’m not sure how successful it’s been.
There are a lot of questions I still ask myself: what’s the point of this story? Will other people resonate with it? is it ready? Is it good enough? It’s hard to know the answers to any of these.
But I have come to realise and accept that curiosity is what really drives me as a writer. I was curious about this link I could see between the persecution of vampires in the novella and the persecution of communists and homosexuals during the McCarthy era of America. I wanted to explain to other people what I was seeing and the only way I could seem to do it was through this show. Now, talking with the Director and Producer about the show, I can see that somehow they’ve understood what I was trying to articulate, this complex thing I couldn’t put into words has been conveyed through theatre. I think that’s some kind of magic.
I’ve also learned , I suppose, what I love about theatre and why I write.
Tell us about your show.
This show is debuts at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and is produced under the University of St Andrews Mermaids Performing Arts Fund, a student-led theatre society. The inspiration for the show came from my own fascination with the Lavender Scare, the mid-century moral panic which led to widespread persecution of queer employees within the US State Department, as well as my dissatisfaction at the bleak ending of the novella Carmilla, which had been promoted to me as this lesbian vampire classic. Except it ends tragically for both of the would-be lesbians and is in fact a cautionary tale about how dangerous female sexuality and lesbian desire was for young women.
Now maybe I should have expected that from a novella written in 1872, and I also don’t want to take away from the fact that the text is subversive (the relationship between Laura and Carmilla is at times profoundly romantic and touching), but I can’t say I wasn’t left wanting more. Not just from the novella, but for the characters.
This show, to me, is more than just a modernised adaptation. It is the story I felt these characters deserved, ones which liberates them from their caricaturish trope identities and allows them to be full, queer individuals, written with a deep empathy and love.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
There is another queer and student written show performing in the same venue as us later in the day called Other People. So if Carmilla doesn’t satiate your longing for lesbian victory, stick around Greenside until the evening and I’m sure they will.
There is also, on a more vampyric note, the Charity Pantomime Gagula (also performing in Greenside) which looks to be a hoot.
Mermaids at the Fringe is also sending two other student written, directed and produced shows: Crash Course and The Next Chapter, performing later in the month. I’ve seen and loved work from both of these writers before, and found their writing witting, charming and deeply touching, so these are definitely worth checking out!
A show I’m very excited to see and would highly recommend is Spin Cycle, which from their promotion looks to be right up my alley…queer absurdist laundrette meet-cute – yes please.
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