The Barden Party
The Barden Party is an award-winning New Zealand theatre company that brings bold, immersive performances directly to communities, transforming backyards, gardens, public venues and unique spaces into unforgettable live theatre experiences.
Inspired by the idea of making Shakespeare accessible, entertaining and welcoming for all audiences, they blend classic storytelling with live music, humour and modern energy.
Created during the disruption of the COVID era, The Barden Party exists to take theatre back to its roots - bringing people together through shared experiences, joy and connection. Through touring productions, private events and public performances, they continue to reimagine what live theatre can be and where it can happen.
In the words of Director, Laura Irish
We are so grateful for the support of the Mikro Foundation. You allowed us to put funds towards creating our founding documents, processes, management and marketing in addition to helping us have beautiful, professional costumes and set for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
After 50 magical shows of our well-received and award-winning version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream across the gardens of New Zealand with our dedicated cast and crew, we embarked on an amazing overseas adventure. Over the past July we traveled with 10 actors and two loyal children across the entire United States, bringing this pocket of joy that started because of Covid-19 in NZ to amazing audiences in six states!
It was an incredible feat to pull off with some cast members coming down to the wire waiting for their visas to arrive. One member only got their passport on the day we flew out!
But from there it was almost clear sailing – to Honolulu, Hawaii – first performing three shows at Hawaii Plantation Village and for our Barden champion Avi and her family and friends. We then set off for Illinois doing two wonderful shows before the perhaps inevitable occurred and several cast members were struck down with Covid. We were still able to perform several shows with a lessened cast who took on more parts than usual! Alas we still had to cancel three shows which was a blow to us but we pushed through.
Perhaps a highlight was Rantoul, Illinois where the town shut down the entire main street for the show – which we felt might have been an overkill until several hundred people showed up for the performance! Including Laura’s first ever drama teacher.
When we got back to full strength we jumped in our trusty 12-seater van and headed off on a 16-hour journey cross country to Massachusetts. The next day we performed one of our favourite shows for another of our Barden champions, Liz Butler, who wanted us for a family party to welcome her home from her time in New Zealand and to honour her parent’s anniversary and to celebrate her art-loving grandma who recently passed away.
From there we headed to the nearby Ventfort Hall to perform at the historic gilded age mansion in a setting that felt fitting for a Barden Party! Was a real treat.
Then it was time for NYC – where the cast soaked up the theatre capital of the world before performing at Herbert Von King Park in Brooklyn. What we love about public shows is how people drift in out of curiosity and then just stay – experiencing something spontaneous and wonderful.
We fared thee well to NYC and headed across country to LA where we settled in for the final hurrah and a show in North Hollywood Park for a wonderful audience of supporters who made us feel like embarking on this crazy adventure was all worth while.
All in all we performed 10 shows with this incredibly talented cast. It was an absolute joy and blessing to experience this tour with such a wonderful group of people and see them develop and grow as people and professionals.
This company is always about spreading joy, taking risks to grow, forging connections, supporting talent and on that count we succeeded thanks to you all. The Barden Party is in great spirits and we can’t wait to do you all proud with our next endeavour. Watch this space!
Are you pushing towards a goal?
If you’re motivated, committed, and need a hand, we’d love to hear from you.