Sarah-Louise Young is back with her show An Evening Without Kate Bush, an internationally celebrated tribute to the iconic singer-songwriter. Following acclaim for it as a one-act cabaret, it has now been extended by Young and co-creator Russell Lucas to a full-length show.
You can read my review of An Evening With Kate Bush at Soho Downstairs (2022) and my interview with Sarah-Louise Young for I Am Your Tribute at the Edinburgh Fringe (2024). Bush fans might also want to read my review of the book Finding Kate (2022).
Following ★★★★★ sold out runs from Edinburgh to Australia, the award-winning (Best Cabaret, Adelaide Fringe 2025) cult cabaret An Evening Without Kate Bush is back!
Enter Strange Phenomena, howl with the Hounds Of Love and dance on the moors with Wuthering Heights.
Kate’s not there, but you are.
The special extended edition of this smash-hit show comes to the West End for the very first time, featuring even more songs as well as classic hits like Running Up That Hill, Cloudbusting and The Man With The Child In His Eyes.
Release your inner Bush and celebrate at this glorious tribute to the music, fans and mythology of one of the most influential voices in British music.
Where: Underbelly Boulevard Soho
When: 14-26 Apr 2026
Ticket link: https://underbellyboulevard.com/tickets/an-evening-without-kate-bush/
An Evening Without Kate Bush is back! How has the show evolved since its last showing?
In a sense, the show is constantly evolving as each new audience brings its own unique energy. The stories people share with me, both during and after the show, find their way into the fabric of the night. What I love about doing An Evening Without Kate Bush is how no two shows ever feel quite the same.
The two-act version allows for more music and more opportunities to celebrate Kate’s incredible body of work. It’s basically the one-act version with extra bonus material! There are so many amazing songs to choose from, we could easily spend two weeks just singing her back catalogue.
Instead, Russell Lucas (the show’s co-creator) and I expanded the playlist to include the wonderfully dramatic “Hammer Horror”, an unexpected B-side and cover version, an appearance from a singing mountain at the top of act two, and the classic (and notoriously parodied by Steve Coogan), “Them Heavy People”.
If you’ve seen the one-act show, you’ll know that I don’t set out to impersonate Kate Bush – it’s more ‘essence of Kate’. We take inspiration from her costumes and dance moves, and weave them into the narrative. There are plenty of fun Easter eggs to find for the eagle-eyed amongst you, too.
So you might spot a nod to the Red Shoes popping up in a mime, or a lyric from “Pi” (a track from her genius Aerial album), finding its way into the story of a super fan trying to break into Kate’s home. Although Stranger Things has had a big impact on her fan base (and thus ours), we haven’t created loads of new content about it.
Instead, we choose to wait and see who comes and whether they want to share that with us. Whatever your era or entry point, or whether you’ve been a fan your whole life, certain songs will resonate with you more. You don’t even need to be a fan of The Bush to get something from the show.
What is it about Kate Bush that keeps bringing you back to her?
Her music truly is the soundtrack to my life, and I still find myself listening to songs I haven’t heard for a while and finding new meaning and resonance in them. So it’s partly nostalgia and partly curiosity to see how her growth as an artist and as a human being reflects my own.
As well as having fun, part of the enduring appeal of performing this show for me is singing these fantastic songs, and getting to share them with people who love her as much as I do. We basically get to have a party each night!
Over the years, her fans have also shared very personal and sometimes heartwarming stories with me. To facilitate their enjoyment of her music and for them to want to connect so intimately with me is an incredible privilege, one I would never take for granted.
I enjoy performing the show, but knowing it can be emotionally valuable to people, too, is really something. It’s a gift of a show to be part of.
What have you been up to since we last spoke (for I Am Your Tribute at EdFringe ’24)?
It’s been such a busy time! I took An Evening Without Kate Bush to Australia and New Zealand for four months, before touring back home, including headlining the Theatre tent at Glastonbury for the second year and selling out the 800 seater Sheffield Crucible.
As well as panto in Poole (where I am back this year for my third time as resident baddie) and directing the sequel to Paulus’ Looking For Me Friend: The Music Of Victoria Wood, (touring later this year under the name What Wood Victoria Do?, I have been rehearsing and developing a brand new solo show premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe this year called The Bob Ross
Effect.
It’s a warm and touching interactive art show exploring what happens to us when we forget to nurture our own creativity. I’m really excited about it, and a little nervous, which is the perfect cocktail for new writing, I think.
I’ve been learning to paint and fan dance for it and am working with two of my old Showstopper! pals, director Ali James and composer Jordan Clarke. We’ll be previewing in Poole, London and Henley-in-Arden before opening at the gorgeous Piccolo Tent in Assembly Gardens in August.
This is all so wonderful, as is SLY! What a great combination of energy, sounds, and theatrical exploration. Thank you for this interview.