An Evening Without Kate Bush

There’s a lot of fan-love out there for Kate Bush. The eclectic singer-songwriter who emerged in the 1970s with her debut single Wuthering Heights is still hugely popular, with a body of work now appealing to a whole new generation. Whether you are a fan or not, it’s difficult not to fall completely in love with Sarah-Louise Young’s new show An Evening Without Kate Bush.

A former The Stage Edinburgh Award winner, Young’s new work is less of a tribute act and more of a homage to the fans whose lives, one way or another, have been enriched by the artist. Young and co-writer Russell Lucas have engaged with fans, tribute acts and even the cleaner who mopped the stage following the 2014 concerts, to inform her comedy cabaret and the result is intoxicating.

Don’t Give Up and The Man With the Child In His Eyes are contextualised and lovingly recreated with warmth and humour. Babooshka is re-worked in Russian and Running Up That Hill is recreated complete with an exhausting interpretive dance routine. Young’s attention to detail and vocal styling is meticulous, but it’s her rapport with the audience that sets this show apart, reinventing the tribute act by turning it around and celebrating the fans too.

Sarah-Louise Young and Delme Thomas among final winners of The Stage Edinburgh Awards