A fabulously crazy Kate Bush cabaret, dedicated to the fans!

A single, tiny red light floats at the front of the Oxford Playhouse stage in silence. Slowly but surely, movements begin and the music swells; the gloriously Bush-like voice of Sarah-Louise Young fills the room. I’ve never seen Kate Bush live but I can imagine this number was pretty close. Through a gauze, Young twisted and turned and guided the small light to illuminate her body. Finally, in a huge feathered headdress and leotard (obviously a ‘Fish Person’ uniform), Young revealed herself and as the song came to a close, addressed us, creepily, “She’s not here”. The laughter was almost uninterrupted from that point onwards.

Young is a huge Kate Bush fan and she celebrates the singer in many ways through this strange, hilarious and moving performance. For her, being a tribute act would simply not be enough; she includes verbatim from other super fans, stories from her own fanhood and many songs, some parodies and some dangerously accurate replications. Luckily I am a pretty hardcore second-generation Kate Bush fan so I have a solid knowledge of her work, but even if I hadn’t, Young made the effort to include us all. There was plenty of humour, as Young dabbled in audience interaction. She invited a few people to join her on stage at various points in the show, having created an impressively comfortable space for her fellow super fans. 

There were moments of complete weirdness, which thrilled us all, but there were also poignant, moving moments. It’s always touching to hear a room of admirers singing their favourite songs in unison, but I was shocked by how powerful it was to watch Young move to the music. She had such a lightness and precision that only amplified the energy of Bush’s music and held the room in awe. I was stunned as she recreated her teenage performance of ‘James and the Cold Gun’; the balance of humour and sentiment was just right. 

As the show finished, I genuinely wanted more. It was an absolute triumph!