In a poignant, revealing, and humorous “thank you” performance, award-winning singer songwriter Karine Polwart has reunited with the team at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh whose dedication inspired an elegy to a much venerated and misunderstood sabal palm. A time for telling tales behind Windblown, a show now selling-out theatres around the country.
Polwart returned to the scene where, as artist in residence, she was introduced to the 200-year-old Sabal bermudana. In 2019, standing high and straining against the roof panes of the historic Tropical Palm House, it was the Garden’s oldest living plant. And it was due for removal at the start of work on the restoration of the building, part of the Edinburgh Biomes initiative.
What has unravelled since that fateful day has ranged from the research institute’s first ever wake for a plant, to a yarn of scientific revelation, and a sell-out Edinburgh Fringe show. Above all, an undeniable relationship between the artist and the 356-year-old organisation. An association taking its next steps in the coming months with the opening of the Palm Houses.
In front of a small, invited audience, along with co-composer and artist in residence Pippa Murphy and acclaimed pianist Dave Milligan, Polwart performed excerpts from Windblown. They were then joined on stage by the Garden’s Curator of the Living Collections David Knott, Glasshouse Manager Fiona Inches, and Tropical Botanist Axel Dalberg Poulsen, the key people and inspiration behind the story of her highly praised show.
Attracting five-star reviews throughout last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Windblown, a Raw Material Production, is on a Scottish tour from April 28 to May 16. It has been described by The Herald as “a work of monumental beauty”.
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For more information, images or interviews, please contact Shauna Hay on 07824 529 028, or contact Suzie Huggins, 07385 491 460
Main image (left to right): Karine Polwart, Pippa Murphy, Dr Axel Dalberg Poulsen, David Knott, Fiona Inches, Dr Julia Knights, Regius Keeper, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (with, centre stage, a young Sabal palm).