Cabaret & Variety review: An Evening Without Kate Bush, PBH's Free Fringe @ Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh

Sarah-Louise Young has wowed Fringe cabaret audiences with hugely accomplished musical character-comedy work – notably tragic, knife-clutching chanteuse La Poule Plombée – and an affectionate tribute to Julie Andrews, Julie Madly Deeply.
Sarah-Louise Young copies Kate Bush at the Voodoo Rooms. Picture: Steve Ullathorne.Sarah-Louise Young copies Kate Bush at the Voodoo Rooms. Picture: Steve Ullathorne.
Sarah-Louise Young copies Kate Bush at the Voodoo Rooms. Picture: Steve Ullathorne.

An Evening Without Kate Bush, PBH's Free Fringe @ Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh * * * *

An Evening without Kate Bush is another tribute show, that stands out in two distinct ways: first, Young’s extraordinary vocal work in channeling the strange, beautiful “siren call” of Bush’s voice; and second, the thoughtful and caring attention it pays to her music’s capacity to forge community. This plays out in both the content of the show – studded with quirky and touching nuggets of information about the singer’s global fandom – and in its form, which shapes the performance space itself into a shared site of empathy and appreciation. Without doubt, you don’t need to be a Kate Bush fan to be transported into something very special.

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Early on, Young tells us the show is less about Bush’s life and more about the deep meaning her work has for so many. Even the most bizarre aspects of fandom are treated with fondness. Meanwhile, Young and director Russell Lucas build the love within the room. We howl along to The Hounds of Love and a few of us are invited to do more, sometimes to deeply moving effect. The classics are delivered with panache and, often, memorable twists. But the magic lies in the fusion of Bush’s talent with Young’s in the service of connection near and far.

Until 25 August

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