Karine Polwart: Windblown @ The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh

A wreath of tousled leaves hangs in front of a projected background, speckled with light reminiscent of fireflies. Bathed in a smoky haze, Karine Polwart and pianist Dave Milligan step from the shadows. The intimate sound of the grand piano and the earthy but breezy tones of Polwart’s vocals meet the whispering sounds of the wind, courtesy of sound designer and co-composer Pippa Murphy. An elemental sense of tranquillity and fragility envelopes the audience, setting the tone for an evening of quiet wonder.

In her second theatrical performance following Wind Resistance, Polwart turns her attention to the old sabal palm of Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden. From its arrival in the Port of Leith to its original residence in Leith Walk, its eventual rehousing to the Palm House, the tree's journey ended in 2021, long after it outgrew the Victorian glass ceiling that sheltered it. As the Garden’s oldest resident, it was ultimately felled as part of the landmark renovation and restoration project for the Palm Houses, led by the Edinburgh Biomes Project.

The tale unfolds through a collection of songs, poetry, and spoken word, all blended seamlessly into a gently immersive narrative. The performance is sprinkled with fond recollections of conversations with members of staff who nurtured a personal connection with the sabal (“It’s like being in the room with an elephant,” one horticulturalist quips). In a moment of poignant reflection, Polwart calls forth the memory of a private event she attended with a cancer patient nearing the end of their life, drawing a parallel to a wake held for the palm.

A cosmic halo blooms in projection behind the heads of Polwart and the sabal. 'Let me go', it sings. Polwart’s matter-of-fact delivery makes one believe that the palm saw its own passing by chainsaw as inevitable. The palm’s voice emerges through the music, repeating the same simple refrain over and over, but with subtle narrative transformations every time. It becomes a meditation on loss, grief and the way our lives intertwine with the natural world.

With a set design by Neil Haynes, which is as informational as it is metaphorical, choreography by Janice Parker that makes Polwart’s transcendence into the palm’s voice deeply convincing, and Lizzie Powell’s warm and sparkly lighting alongside Jamie Wardrop’s projection design, the performance proves to be a tender, glowing paean to nature, humanity and life itself.

---

Windblown runs at The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh until 13 Aug