The smell of joss fills the Hayes Theatre Co. The stage is strewn with brightly coloured rugs, lots of candles and a table with a teapot, while a large self-portrait of Joni Mitchell stands on an easel. Painted for her Love Has Many Faces album cover, the mouth is utterly distinctive but her hat is pulled down to cover her eyes.

It makes for the perfect intimate setting for Queenie van de Zandt’s new cabaret show BLUE: The Songs of Joni Mitchell. Written by van de Zandt and her musical director Max Lambert, the show takes us through the landmark events in Mitchell’s life and, with its clever selection of songs, illustrates just how much she drew on her own life in her poetic, folksy songs. As Mitchell once said: “I paint my joy and sing my sorrow”.

Queenie van de Zandt in BLUE: The Songs of Joni Mitchell

The story of her contracting polio at age nine, being told she would never walk again and spending a year in hospital is intercut with the song River, for example, with its lyrics “I would teach my feet to fly, I wish I...