It was only a few short months ago that the future of the Barden Party was altered forever. We begun our company in the midst of a pandemic when there were no venues open. We took fun, immersive Shakespeare to people’s backyards. We were scrappy, agile and had a ball doing it.

But then we had a call where a loyal supporter and patron asked what else we had planned. Our artistic director Laura Irish answered: “Well we have got this show on a superyacht idea”.

It was a concept dreamed up by friend and collaborator Jim Fishwick of Sydney’s Jetpack Theatre.

Laura was told to have her numbers by the end of the weekend. And thus began and incredible journey to bring Butterfly Smokescreen to life - an immersive theatrical experience aboard a 100ft superyacht. It is, as far as we can tell, the only one of its kind in the world.

That may be for good reason. Finding a superyacht owner wanting to host dozens of people a night through their beautiful vessel is a tough ask. But luckily we discovered Charlotte Devereaux and her husband Simon Greenwood. Together they own Sea Breeze III, a magnificent yacht in Auckland’s viaduct. Turns out they had always imagined the vessel being host to such an ambitious and innovative production like Butterfly Smokescreen.

It was an experiment. We knew what we were creating was special but creating something incredible is one thing, finding an audience is quite another. It is now, nearing the end of the season that our sales are skyrocketing as people hear rumours of an exclusive, intimate show aboard a superyacht.

We have had incredible press along the way, from TVNZ, RNZ, Stuff, Canvas Magazine, The Spinoff, just to name a few.

And so word has spread around watercoolers and extended family dinners. Everyone who has been a guest has gushed about it. And now people are panicking. Perhaps rightly so. The Barden Party team have grand plans now. We have seen the reaction from audiences and know that Auckland can’t be the end of the journey.

So plans are afoot to take it first to Australia within the next several months and then onto California later next year for the 100 year anniversary of Thomas Ince’s death.

It is a bold and ambitious path and one we are looking forward to forging. So if you want to say you saw the show before it went global, we suggest you head along to Eventfinda - and for good measure if you enter the promo code FINALWEEKS, you will get a 30% discount off your tickets.

And if you want to stay informed of our journey, subscribe to our newsletter below.

Come along and step aboard … Mr Hearst is waiting. For now.