Edinburgh Fringe 2026
Tether
Wonder Fools & Theatre SAN
Genre: International, Music, Theatre
Venue: Main Hall at Summerhall
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
An hour of theatre that is a delightful mix of folk music, history, and irresistible heart. Created as a cross-cultural collaboration between Theatre SAN and Wonder Fools. This is a warm, heartfelt, and joyful show that celebrates the power of connection and dance.
Review
The pre-show opens with a ceilidh already in full swing, with some lucky audience members swept up to join in. I watched on, a little jealous! But then again, it was a sold-out show for the cast, who looked completely in their element.
We are invited into the ceilidh both emotionally as well as physically. We get to hear traditional Scottish and Korean folk music, whilst ceilidh dancing and ganggangsullae, a traditional Korean circle dance, all hold hands with each other throughout the show. It is a beautiful melding and a dialogue which the live band on stage lead with skill and merriment.
Scottish actors spoke primarily English and Korean actors mostly spoke Korean, with some English. The bi-lingual captions were an inspired and welcome addition, adding another layer to the production. It was wonderful to hear the characters connect across both tongues, demonstrating to us how language doesn’t have to be a barrier to understanding or to theatre. In fact, it made their conversations feel all the more intimate and authentic.
Major political events emerge in the background, shaping the circumstances and events of the characters’ lives without becoming the focus of the story. Yet it doesn’t shy away from the struggles faced by everyday people in their respective eras: from marches in inter-war Glasgow, a nurse travelling to meet a soldier in the Korean war, and a landlady in 1970s Glasgow.
Our main focus is a Korean man played by Hyeon-kyu Choi, who comes to Glasgow as a missionary, and the daughter of his Scottish landlady, played by Molly Bryson. Choi drives the narrative with magnetism and emotional depth as his character navigates his desires and his memories with his responsibility. Bryson matches him with a performance full of charm, resilience, and dignity for her character, who is determined to care for others and be ‘on the right side of history’. Their pairing is tender, believable, and impossible not to invest in. But as their lives intersect and feelings blossom, we watch with awe and also with trepidation, because we’ve seen the flashbacks to a soldier and a nurse in the Korean war.
How did such a story come about? This playful piece of theatre is a cross-cultural collaboration between South Korean theatre company, Theatre SAN and Scottish company Wonder Fools. Written and directed by Yoon Junghwan, Robbie Gordon, and Jack Nurse, the plot follows a multi-generational story over 60 years that skips and spins through time and countries. The shifting timeline can be difficult to follow at times, with the narrative only fully coming together in its powerful final quarter.
As we listen to the Arirang, a Korean folk melody of longing and separation sung by Bryson, the production’s commitment to cross-cultural storytelling comes into powerful, moving focus. There are many light moments too, such as the priest, played by Martin Donaghy who brings a welcomed comedic relief in his scenes. He has his own interpretation for the measure of a dram and he marvels at the goings on of the would-be couple. Throughout, Mi-soo Kim offers the audience a vital guide to navigating the twists and turns. Arriving in Glasgow from South Korea as a researcher, we’re told her goal is to interview the new landlady, played with intrigue by Isabella Jarrett. But her true motivations are only revealed later in the play.
While the narrative explores familiar themes of love and loss, it unfolds with enough unpredictability to keep the audience captivated, never revealing too much, too soon. It leaves the destination uncertain and full of intrigue for us, the audience until the final scenes.
Few productions manage to balance sorrow and joy with such grace. It is uplifting and tender. This is the kind of show that reminds us of theatre’s unique ability to show how grief and joy co-exist and are not contradictory forces. And that is what it truly means to be human.
