Royal & Derngate Northampton – Wednesday 15th November 2023
Reviewed by Amarjeet Singh
5*****
An Evening Without Kate Bush is a slightly misleading title for this beautiful and brilliant show. We are told, “She’s not there – but you are”. However, there are points during the show, where if you close your eyes, you would swear you were in the company of Kate whilst she was singing some of her greatest hits, and yet its highly accurate as a title, as this is as much about us, the audience and the artist, as it is Kate. Multi-talented tour de force, actress and singer Sarah-Louise Young developed her show with fellow artist Russell Lucas, for the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, where it was a hit, and after experiencing it in all its glory, it’s clear to see why. Young’s vocals are spectacular and as it was eluded to earlier, they are eerily similar to the great Kate’s, but this is not a tribute act, this is a homage to the great lady and her fans, both old and new, established and fledgling.
What really makes An Evening Without Kate Bush fantastic, entertaining and different from the usual tribute acts are the oodles of appropriate and wonderful audience interactions as it focuses on the collective love for Kate Bush, the need for tribute acts due to Kate’s reclusiveness and her song collection from the viewpoint of her fans (fish people) and those that have interacted with her through her time in the limelight. Young weaves these stories into her show, and we are treated to a spectacular smorgasbord of shorts, including Babushka sung as it ought to be, with its correct pronunciation. Presented in a visually striking way, with lashings of humour; some scripted and some shot from the hip…it was hard to believe this was all created from a suitcase, a microphone and a sole performer on stage.
At no point did Young pretend to be Kate, she talked through costumes, dance moves, meanings behind songs, fans, and her own love for the Bush, but her reverence was evident. The audience interaction and involvement delighted everyone and induced both laughter and tears, a true sense of connection and community was established in such a short space of time, with Young staying behind after the show to talk to the audience as they left. An Evening Without Kate Bush was packed to the rafters with her impressive back catalogue and they were performed with aplomb. Cloudbusting, Hounds of Love, Running Up That Hill and a bit of a twist on Wuthering Heights … but there are no spoilers here. Please keep your eyes peeled for a stunning rendition of Army Dreamers.
An evening with Sarah-Louise Young is recommended if you want to celebrate the glory that is Kate Bush, and if you want to experience a night of theatre that is funny, fresh and full of feels. Tremendous talent, touching, meticulous attention to detail, tingling vocals and an endearing and undeniable rapport with the audience makes An Evening Without Kate Bush a must see. If it were possible to give it 6 stars I would.