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Karine Polwart: Windblown

Queen’s Hall

Five stars

 

When Karine Polwart heard the story of the 200-year-old Sabal palm tree that was about to be felled in Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden, it sparked the idea for this new illustrated fusion of song cycle and storytelling. This is brought to gorgeous life in collaboration with composer Pippa Murphy chock-full of empathy and warmth. 

 

The hour-long piece begins with a series of delicate piano patterns played by jazz maestro Dave Milligan as Polwart brings a gentle sway to her performance under the guidance of Janice Parker’s movement direction. With a reconstruction of Old Sabal at the centre of the stage care of Neil Haynes’ design, Polwart regales us with details of the tree’s rarity, how it was transported from Bermuda, and how it looked over the city as it got too big for its roots while the world expanded around its tropical glasshouse home. 

 

Polwart’s story becomes as much about the creation of the piece as it does about a silent totem of an ever-evolving life cycle in the heart of the city. There are moments when Old Sabal seems to shimmer and whisper, both care of Jamie Wardrop’s audio-visual work, Lizzie Powell’s lighting and Murphy’s sound design. 

 

At the production’s centre, however, are Polwart and Murphy’s songs, a rich blend of chamber folk stylings that give voice to Old Sabal with clarity and heart. Produced by the Raw Material company as part of this year’s Made in Scotland Edinburgh Festival Fringe showcase, Polwart’s story comes with a twist that lends even more charm to a work of monumental beauty. 

 

Until August 13, 7.30pm.


The Herald, August 11th 2025

 

ends

 

 

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