Tether 인연 @ Summerhall

The theme builds even as the audience takes their seats, with the band playing amidst a hazy set while the cast perform a ceilidh dance, keeping the energy high and the audience involved from the off.

What follows is an organic collaboration between two companies that share themes of music, humanity and folkloric traditions. The story that unfolds is one of cross-cultural exchange, of love and loss blossoming between Scottish and Korean characters across three tessellating timelines.

As the characters get to know one another, language often breaks down, basic interactions fail, and the spoken dialogue loses or shifts in both meaning and effect. Music and dance offer a powerful riposte: the mutual appreciation of song, movement and melody helps cross cultural and linguistic divides and bring strangers together – a fact that plays out in the participation of the audience. Some audience members are brought onstage to dance the Gay Gordons, and all are invited to participate in a rendition of Auld Lang Syne and learn Aegukga, the Korean national anthem that shares the same melody. These songs and rituals enable the characters to carry their stories throughout the generations, with echoes of deep emotional resonance refracting through three timelines that cannot help but return to the songs embedded in their souls and psyches.

In the background of Tether, war rages, and the people are always suffering, always resisting, always striving to protest against injustices. Their resistance is given meaning by their shared humanity and a voice through folk music. In a time of increasing alienation, tech trillionaires and cynicism, Tether is a powerful and joyful celebration of the power of human connection, song and collective experience.

---

Tether 인연, Summerhall (Main Hall), until 31 Aug (not 18, 25), 4.30pm, £18.50/£16