Credit: Henry Kenyon
By Grace Hatchell
Corinne Harragin brings folklore, laughter and watery mischief to the Edinburgh Fringe
Water has always had a suspicious amount going on beneath the surface.
One minute it is sitting politely in a glass. The next it is swallowing ships, inspiring ancient worship and apparently hosting shape-shifting rivers and mythical woodland raves.
Frankly, tap water has been underselling itself.
Following a 30-date tour across England, Wales and Scotland, storyteller Corinne Harragin is bringing Troubled Waters to the Scottish Storytelling Centre for its first full-month Edinburgh Fringe run. The live performance weaves together myths, folktales and forgotten legends exploring humanity’s relationship with rivers, springs and the sea.
Something fishy is going on
The stories featured in Troubled Waters include mischievous fishtail women, sacred wells, shape-shifting rivers and the aforementioned woodland rave.
That last one raises several important questions. Is there a guest list? Do badgers run security? And does the river itself take requests?
Corinne blends humour, mythology and atmosphere to explore water as something far more powerful than the stuff that ruins a perfectly good day out in Edinburgh.
The show considers how water has been worshipped, feared and imagined as living across different cultures—and what might happen if we started paying attention to those stories again.
Corinne said:
“Water has always been more than something we drink. Across cultures it has been worshipped, feared, celebrated and imagined as living.”
She added that the show asks what happens when we begin listening to our rivers again.
Grace would listen, obviously. Although if the Tyne starts giving unsolicited political opinions, we may need to set some boundaries.
Ancient stories for troubled times
The production grew from Corinne’s research into the Bristol Avon and her wider interest in water folklore and hydrolatry—the worship or reverence of water.
At a time when rivers face increasing pressure, Troubled Waters explores what ancient tales may still have to teach us. It does so through laughter and wonder rather than delivering a stern lecture about river management while everybody quietly checks the time.
The show has already enjoyed sold-out performances during its tour, with audience members describing it as captivating, funny and even sexy.
Sexy rivers. There’s a sentence nobody expected to read today.
Still, when Greek gods, fishtail women and sacred springs are involved, perhaps things were always likely to become a little steamy.
Storytelling without the dusty history lesson
Corinne Harragin is a performance storyteller, educator and Research Associate at the University of Bristol. Her work combines traditional folklore with contemporary concerns, using live storytelling to explore the connections between people, landscape and place.
Her research project, Storying the Avon, examines how storytelling can deepen our relationship with rivers and the landscapes around them.
For anyone picturing an especially long school assembly with a water theme, relax. Troubled Waters promises humour, atmosphere and stories filled with strange creatures, forgotten beliefs and unruly natural forces.
In other words, the water is alive, the folklore is getting ideas above its station, and somewhere in the woods there may be a rave occurring without the proper council paperwork.
Grace’s early thoughts
Troubled Waters sounds like the sort of show that gently invites you into a beautiful old story before a fishtail woman appears and causes administrative chaos.
There is something appealing about a production that treats water as mysterious, sacred and faintly unpredictable rather than simply the thing Northumbrian Water sends you a bill for.
Whether you are a cold-water swimmer, a folklore lover or somebody who has always suspected rivers know more than they are letting on, this looks like an intriguing chance to dip beneath the surface.
Just keep an eye on your belongings near the shape-shifters.
Troubled Waters — Edinburgh Fringe details
Venue: Scottish Storytelling Centre, George Mackay Brown Library
Dates: 7–30 August 2026
Time: 2.30pm
Running time: 70 minutes
Age guidance: 14+
Troubled Waters | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
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