The Barden Party season kicks off!
After weeks of intensive rehearsals in Christchurch, our cast recently descended on the Top of the South Island to test out our new creation on *gasp … a real live audience. (Spoiler, they loved it.)
The cast working hard and meeting Suzie Cato!
At the start of October our 12 incredible actors came together in Christchurch at a variety of locations (thanks to some incredible sponsors) to start creating a cutdown, adapted, rockabilly version of Much Ado About Nothing. We have nothing but incredible words to say about Original Scripts Theatre School, JK Performing Arts and Nasda at Ara (more on them later), for providing some amazing spaces for our actors to play.
The show was built from the ground up with two actors learning one role with that role being made up of a variety of characters. After all, if you Google ‘how many actors do you need for Much Ado About Nothing?’ It tells you 15. Lol. Put on top of that, our musical director Jake Robinson beaming in from London to teach his mashups of pop music that are all performed by the actors.
But our cast rose to the challenge - building on the culture of a fun, safe, supportive environment that is the cornerstone of the Barden Party. Many had never met each other before but soon they felt like old friends. We couldn’t be prouder of them.
Wonderful preview shows at Governor’s Bay and Hope, Nelson
But before long came the time to bring our creation into the universe. We held two of these in Christchurch, in the beautiful Governor’s Bay home of Elizabeth - the step-mum of our wonderful cast member Julia. It was the perfect location for our first showings of Much Ado.
But these projects don’t just come into being by themselves. It takes help from people who see the value in what we are trying to do. The people who just exemplify the spirit of The Barden Party.
Front and centre of that troupe are our guardian angels Tracy and Gary Saunders. They helped us with accomodation in Christchurch, then offered to host our dress rehearsal in Nelson and even offered us a trailer to haul our set around the country. We are so grateful for all your support, we couldn't do it without you!
Our first sell out shows at Forrest Wines!
Rachel Tully at Forrest Wines has been one of our biggest supporters. They hosted the last outdoor shows of last season’s performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and were the first to book us again for the first shows of Much Ado. And the Marlborough weather and crowd did not disappoint.
Amid the vines, with a glass of wine in hand, we put on two shows to wonderful audiences. It was a chance for both casts to see each other in action and was a special way to kick off the summer season! Go buy some wine from them!
Now we are into our season proper with shows booked around the country already! If you want to secure your spot for the best party of the summer then get in touch!
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Fare thee well!
