Sarah-Louise Young celebrates her 18th year at Edinburgh Fringe this year with a new show, I Am Your Tribute.
“She invites you to help her create the ultimate tribute to an act of your choosing! Along the way she’ll teach you the tricks of the trade, share her greatest hits, and uncover the occasionally darker side of living in someone’s else’s shadow.”
Where: PBH’s Free Fringe @ Voodoo Rooms
When: 3-11, 13-19, 21-25 Aug
Ticket link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/i-am-your-tribute
Sarah-Louise tells us more about her latest project.
What are you looking forward to the most at Fringe?
I am very excited about sharing my new show, I Am Your Tribute with the Edinburgh audiences.
This is my 18th Fringe, but it’s still nerve-wracking when you’re trying out something fresh for the first time. I I love how up for adventure Fringe-goers can be.
I’m also bringing back An Evening Without Kate Bush for the third time so it will be really interesting to see how they both land.
The other big pull for me is to see shows. My wish list is huge already, but with two performances of my own to do each day, I’m really scouring that 2-5pm slot!
I’m a co-founder of the Female & Female Identifying Solo Theatremaker’s Collective too and lots of our members are up so I want to support as many of them as I can.
I’ll also be organising solo performer drop-ins at Fringe Central during the month – it’s going to be a busy August!
Tell me about I Am Your Tribute! It sounds a lot of fun and is billed as ‘interactive choose-your-own-adventure cabaret’! What should audiences expect?
Familiar songs, plenty of wigs, and gentle audience interaction. It’s billed as interactive, but anyone who is worried about being made to do anything they don’t want to do, need not worry.
I find that the people who want to get involved make themselves known fairly quickly and in previews a lot of audience members have told me afterwards that they weren’t expecting to want to singalong but found they couldn’t help themselves!
It’s a joyful party with a little story woven inside.
Your previous shows have centred on Kate Bush and Julie Andrews. What is it about these performers and tribute acts generally that interests you?
I am fascinated by the relationship fans have with the artists and music they love.
When we made Julie Madly Deeply, we were aware we held a lot of people’s childhoods in our hands. Films like Mary Poppins and The Sound Of Music have a very deep and personal nostalgia attached to them.
Whilst the show was humorous in parts and full of playfulness, ultimately it was made from a place of genuine love and respect. With the Kate show, we really zoomed in on the Fans’ stories.
Our new show feels almost like the final part of the triptych: what happens when your fandom takes you from singing into your hairbrush in your bedroom to stepping onto a professional stage?
I was also inspired by my own experience of encountering the snobbery sometimes felt towards tributes.
There is an assumption amongst some people that they are low brow, but my research has shown me how powerful and important they can be to people.
They provide community, celebration, and a relatively cheap night out. My show is definitely in defence of the Tribute Artist!
You are a well-established solo performer. What do you enjoy most about being up on stage alone?
I alway say there is no such thing as a solo show.
Partly because of all the behind the scenes collaborators (including my brilliant co-creator, Russel Lucas) but mainly because, for me, the audience are the missing ingredient.
They are an integral part of the experience. I am not performing the show at them, but with them.
I do love working with other actors too and have enjoyed lots of ensemble theatre, but there is nothing quite like being on stage alone, with all your senses heightened.
It’s such a privilege to be trusted with a roomful of people, creating intimacy and hopefully a really enjoyable show.
What’s next after this show?
We’ll be touring An Evening Without Kate Bush from September and then I take December off to do Panto in Poole (this year I get to be evil Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty) before heading back out to Australia.
I am also directing two shows for next year – my head is always buzzing with new ideas for my own shows but right now I am going to focus on getting I Am Your Tribute ready for the Fringe and hoping it makes people as happy as it makes me.