Kate Bush is a ’70s and ’80s era musical super-star beloved by STARBURST readers for her haunting and weird pop songs that have strong fantasy, sci-fi and horror themes, whose work has been in everything from After Blue to Stranger Things. Wuthering Shites is a homage to Bush’s legacy, performed by British drag artist, comedian and number one Kate Bush fan, Kate Butch.
Part super-serious tribute and mostly an extremely daft homage to the incredible work of Kate Bush, the show features Butch in a simply fabulous dress and armed with merchandise from the West End show Mamma Mia! The set-up is pretty simple; the fabulous Butch wants to make a Jukebox musical out of the works of Kate Bush. Such a show will surely take both the West End and Broadway by storm. So this is a show about a show, but really, it’s an excuse to sing a lot of cool songs, make some silly pop culture references and drop the odd bit of gossip about RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
Rather than being a biography (which Butch admits would be rather dull after a certain point), Butch’s proposed plot involves a lady called Kathy, a baby called Wow and a man named James, all the more to crowbar in as many Kate Bush songs and silly puns as possible. There is some mild audience participation, mostly using audience members as well-meaning props for a series of dumb gags.
Butch is charming throughout; this is basically a very focused drag show with some brilliant numbers, some superb comic timing and a deep-seated love for one of the most influential performers of the last century (to be clear, we’re talking about Kate Bush here, not Ru Paul).
Riotous, silly and full of belly laughs, Wuthering Shites delivers on its promise of camp fun with the odd banging tune thrown in for good measure. Fantastic Fun. Simply marvellous.
Find out more about Kate and future shows here.



