Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Plastic
Minyoung Kim
Genre: Experimental, International, Live Music
Venue: Anatomy Lecture Theatre at Summerhall
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
PLASTIC is a fascinating and deeply engaging hour of music that combines visual and musical storytelling in a fascinating way.
Review
Minyoung Kim’s PLASTIC is as much a ritual as it is a concert. Before many of the songs, she takes a moment of quiet preparation, bowing her head or turning towards the chalkboard behind her as though in prayer. She allows each piece to settle before beginning the next, using silence as key elements and creating space for the audience to absorb what they have heard. Combined with her costume of flowing black silk trousers and a hooded top, which veils her head for much of the first half, the effect is distinctly ceremonial and contemplative.
For audience members unfamiliar with Korean musical traditions, Kim gave us some contextualisation of the geomungo and its history. It is a traditional Korean instrument, made up of a long wooden body from a local tree, with silk strings which she plucked using a bamboo stick called a suldae. After already enjoying the instrument for some time, this deepened our appreciation of the work’s cultural and artistic significance.
The accompanying projections playing on a screen above her added another layer to the dreamlike atmosphere, supporting a performance that feels immersive. The different visuals moved in time with the rhythms of the music which is an thrilling interplay. It demonstrates how powerfully music and visual storytelling can work together to create something unique and exciting.
At the heart of the performance is an exploration of contradiction. Plastic is presented as something malleable, useful and enduring, a material that can embody both positive and negative qualities. When discussing fear, resilience, and her desire to be more like plastic, Kim speaks with a soft voice and infectious enthusiasm. She approaches the subject with an almost reverential sense of wonder. The symbolism surrounding plastic is compelling, though some thematic connections remain more suggested than fully developed, leaving audience members to do much of the interpretive work. Yet this doesn’t detract from our enjoyment of the show and feels more like an interesting anecdote, a window into the artist’s mind.
Kim describes herself as a rock and roller at heart, and that spirit is a consistent vibe throughout her performance. Whether singing or playing the geomungo, she combines traditional Korean music with electronic music to create something distinctive and exhilarating. The fusion does not feel novel for novelty’s sake; instead, it demonstrates a genuine dialogue between tradition and modernity. Her bursts of movement and dance are instinctive, further heightening the energy of the show. We join in as much as we can in our chairs and as interesting as the Anatomy Lecture Theatre in Summerhall is for this kind of show, I wondered what it would be like if we had room to dance as well.
Much of the show’s power lies in its ability to draw the audience into a mesmerised reverie. As notes floated from the geomungo, we listened in near-silence, captivated by the instrument’s rich and resonant sound. On the journey home, I immediately searched for and streamed Kim’s music on SoundCloud, eager to remain in the world she had created. PLASTIC is a fascinating and deeply engaging fusion of music, storytelling and personal philosophy, offering audiences a fresh perspective on both traditional Korean music and the contradictions of contemporary life.
