She’s known as a prolific collaborator, so it was a little unusual to see Vermont singer Anaïs Mitchell take to the stage with just an acoustic guitar for company.

She was clearly happy by herself, though, opening with her dreamy BBC Radio 2 Folk Award-winning arrangement of traditional ballad Willie Of Winsbury, and following it up with the twangier Wedding Song, from her 2010 “folk opera” Hadestown.

Mitchell’s songs explored themes of love, parenthood, mythology and isolation (to name a few) via unusual, bold approaches.

Namesake was her “stalker song”, she explained – in which she was the stalker. Tailor was a melancholy puzzle of devotion, and the soulful Young Man In America had a hint of Bruce Springsteen about it.

Teaming a sparing guitar-picking style with her full, rich voice, Mitchell kept the set fresh by accepting requests from the audience. She also paid tribute to Dar Williams – who was playing upstairs in the Studio Bar – crediting her as an inspiration and performing a cover of Iowa.

But as the encore songs (the bleak Cosmic American and the funky Our Lady Of The Underground) proved, Mitchell had enough of her own variety, ambition and talent to keep the audience enthralled.