Nelson-based performance ensemble The Barden Party are back to send off the final days of Dunedin’s Fringe Festival with a "raucous rockabilly retelling" of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
Their inclusion in the festival was a chance for the public to experience the revelry at Larnach Castle as opposed to their usual venue of the average New Zealander’s backyard.
The Barden Party is an authentic vintage theatre experience with modern twists that offered a creative solution to keep traditional theatre alive during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream went on to win multiple awards and toured across eight states in the United States.
Director Laura Irish said the transition towards more public events happened organically but were not being prioritised over the smaller and more intimate performances.
"The personality of the individual audiences are so different," Ms Irish said.
"The performance becomes unique for that specific group of people in that specific moment."
Much Ado About Nothing would feature a composition of remixed pop songs courtesy of their live band.
A new two-person show was in the works called Cocktales that brought Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe to audiences’ living rooms during winter.
"It’s that question of, ‘if you could have a cocktail party with any historical figure, who would you choose?’, but only this time you don’t get to choose, you get Shakepeare and Edgar Allan Poe and their personal lives are a mess."
The Barden Party is performing at Olveston today at 1pm and The Opera House Garden in Waitati tomorrow at 4pm.
