Sarah-Louise Young, creator of An Evening Without Kate Bush explains how she made the leap from Free Fringe to international touring show.
When we first had the idea to make An Evening Without Kate Bush, the iconic inspiration for our cult-cabaret hadn’t appeared live on stage for 35 years. Like all Kate Bush fans, Russell Lucas and I had to make do with re-watching old videos on You Tube and waiting for sporadic and hotly anticipated studio albums.
We were fascinated by the unwavering loyalty of her devotees.
In the absence of live shows, we found other ways to express our love, such as donning red tights and taking part in the high camp extravaganza of a Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever.
We’d already had success with a show about Julie Andrews (Julie Madly Deeply) which started life on the Edinburgh Fringe and transferred to the West End, but we had no money and no means of producing a new show other than to do it ourselves.
So that’s what we did. We rehearsed in our living rooms, scoured charity shops for costumes and hand made props. Half way through rehearsals, the real Kate Bush suddenly announced her comeback gigs at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2014. As fans we were excited. But as theatre-makers we were conflicted. If we shared our show now, people might think we were just cashing in on her return.
Our show was made from such an authentic place of devotion we decided not to risk it, so we shelved the idea for another three years. But the passion only grew stronger and in 2019 we decided to take it to the Edinburgh Fringe.
We’d already poured every penny we had into making it but thanks to the PBH Free Fringe’s model (where the performer doesn’t pay to hire the space and the audience don’t pay for a ticket, but are invited to make a voluntary donation at the end) we were able to bring it to the biggest arts festival in the world.
From the very first performance we knew were onto something special. From day two it was standing room only and as word spread we found ourselves an unexpected fringe hit.
Standing at the exit to the Voodoo Rooms Ballroom with my collection bucket after the show each night, I was amazed not just at the generosity of the donations (we took enough to cover our costs and pay ourselves a small fee for making the show) but at the love and affection coming from the audience. People wanted to chat to me, share their stories, their connection to Kate’s music and most surprisingly, people who didn’t know her songs, who’d been dragged along by a friend, said how much the show had impacted them. It was not at all unusual for audience members to come back and see the show multiple times. One man has seen it 12 times, bringing friends and family!
After a cluster of four and five star reviews and the unstoppable word of mouth, we were picked up by maverick producer John Mackay (Fascinating Aida, Stewart Lee) who had both vision and faith in our little show. A UK tour was planned and after disappointing delays caused by Covid, we finally hit the road in 2020, this time with a freshly extended two act version made possible by Mackay’s financial support.
Regional audiences took a while to recover their confidence in lives shows but gradually the warmth and community spirit which lies at the heart of ‘An Evening Without Kate Bush’ seemed to win them over and we began selling out, returning to some cities, like Liverpool and Manchester, several times.
In 2021 the show sold out a three week run downstairs at London’s Soho Theatre with extra date’s added in the main house and a return later that year. We were so proud of our cabaret which seemed, as the Metro would say, to be gathering its own ‘Cult following’. A second run at the Edinburgh Fringe (this time in the paid fringe), cemented us as a festival favourite. The featuring of ‘Running Up That Hill’ in Netflix’s series ‘Stranger Things’ could not have been better timed either.
We toured Australia and New Zealand twice, gathering more critical acclaim at the prestigious Adelaide Cabaret and Sydney Festivals and making connections with Kate’s international fans. I started to receive my own fan art – pictures, a knitted doll and even a hand-decorated cookie with my face on it!
After playing Beautiful Days, Hay-on-Wye and Ventnor Fringe on the Isle Of Wight, our odd-ball indie love-letter to one of the most iconic voices in British music, is set to headline the theatre tent at this year’s Glastonbury Festival before hopping across to Latitude and a third run at the Edinburgh Fringe. Not bad for a little idea dreamed up in a living room in South London.
An Evening Without Kate Bush 19.20 Assembly Checkpoint, July 31- August 25
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/evening-without-kate-bush
Sarah-Louise Young’s new show I am Your Tribute, 12.05 PBH Free Fringe, August 3 – 25
