OBSERVER: An Evening Without Kate Bush
Developed in collaboration with director Russell Lucas, Sarah-Louise Young’s An Evening Without Kate Bush is a one-woman show that packs a punch.
A ghost-like apparition appears on stage and immediately launches into an eerie rendition of Kate Bush’s “And Dream of Sheep.”
Next, the audience is asked to practice collectively howling at a metaphorical moon.
“She’s not here, by the way,” Young tells us, just in case her super fans, or Fish People, as they are known, have stumbled into the Fairfax on a false impression.
“There’s nothing more devoted than a fan of the Bush.”
Even though it’s obvious that Young is a super fan, this is not a tribute show.
That said, when Young sings Bush’s hit, “The Man with the Child in His Eyes,” it is unnerving how good it is.
A sense of déjà vu pervades, and I am transported back to the 1970s.
Young is a triple-threat performer, delivering uncanny musical numbers that echo Bush without parodying her, alongside warm-hearted comic repartee and manic costume changes.
Delivering a masterclass in silly, Young demonstrates Bush’s signature dance moves, the pulse, the rollercoaster and the Champagne whip crash, as well as a rendition of “Babooshka” in Russian.
Audience interaction is encouraged.
A group of friends is coerced into providing back-up vocals.
A couple invited onstage slow-dance to “Don’t Give Up.”
By the final number, we are all invested, including the “Wutherers” channelling Bush, dressed in red with matching red wigs.
En masse, we wave our arms and sing “Wuthering Heights” as a final homage to the enigmatic “voice from a mythical forest called Kate.”
The reclusive Bush will return, Young tells us, after all, “Stranger Things have happened.”
Reviewed by Kathryn Keeble