'SHE'S not here...but you are.'
A woman in a red unitard and a mop head wig is gyrating around the stage to an early Kate Bush album track.
In the wrong hands, this could all be a bit cringe. But, in the hands of remarkable cabaret performer Sarah-Louise Young, the legacy of our beloved Kate is safe.
An Evening Without Kate Bush is kind of a tribute act-within-a-tribute act - the show even includes a shout-out to other Kate tribute acts - and is at turns bonkers, moving, clever, uplifting, otherworldly and hilariously funny.
Ultimately, it's an affectionate celebration of the work of the enigma, and a love letter to her devoted fans. "She's not here...but you are," smiles Sarah-Louise.
You don't have to be a Kate Bush fan to get this show, but it probably helps. I've loved her since I was a child, and was lucky enough to be at her 2014 Hammersmith Apollo residency - a highlight of my life. She's an easy target for mimicry, and her fans are protective. Thankfully Sarah-Louise is not only a skilled performer, with an impressive voice, she's a fan too.
She appeared among us at Bradford's Studio theatre, in a black veil and feathers, opening with the haunting And Dream of Sheep. What followed was a joyous, quite brilliant blend of song, movement and monologue.
She sang the crowd-pleasers beautifully - Army Dreamers with blinking lanterns, Running Up That Hill with the 'Champagne Whipcrack' and literal translation staples of the Bush choreography, and This Woman's Work in the guise of a cleaner mopping the Hammersmith stage, gazing wistfully at the microphone. She even sang Babooshka in Russian. Amazing! Turns out we've been singing it wrong all these years.
Her charming narrative was delivered with skilled comic timing - "I'm 46," she muttered to herself, flailing on the floor as a giant snowflake for King of the Mountain, or maybe it was as she untangled the mop head wig for James and the Cold Gun. She took us back to a fan girl performance at her school assembly, in that red unitard, and offered up some Kate facts, some in-jokes for the superfans, and audio snippets from devotees who travelled from around the world to see Before the Dawn.
We howled with the Hounds of Love, sang along to Rubberband Girl and swayed our arms to Wuthering Heights. There is a lovely sense of ownership with this show - she makes you feel part of it. In a good way.
I don't care for audience participation (who does??) so there was a moment of terror when Sarah-Louise wafted past my row to pick some backing vocalists for Cloudbusting. "They're just glad it's not them," she said, as two people joined her on stage and the rest of us basked in quiet relief. The backing vocalists - "Heathcliff and Cathy" - ended up having fun with a Kate wig.
And when she gently persuaded a couple to hug on stage as she sang Don't Give Up, I feared it would be beyond awkward. But it was actually rather beautiful, and moving, as they held each other throughout.
Thank you, Sarah-Louise and co-creator Russell Lucas. I really loved this show.
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