Much Ado About Nothing

The award-winning Barden Party is coming back to the Theatre Royal for a special performance of its hilarious brand of family-friendly musical Shakespeare.

This time around it is a ‘rockabilly retelling’ of Much Ado About Nothing - the Bard’s tale of love, mischief and mistaken identity - featuring music from Dave Dobbyn, Billy Joel and Outkast.

Born in Laura Irish’s Nelson backyard during the Covid traffic light system, as a way to bring entertainment to local audiences, the Barden Party went on to tour Aotearoa, and pick up awards and accolades along the way. Then they embarked on an epic 5-state tour of the United States, building support and audiences as they went. This season, its performance of Much Ado About Nothing expanded with sell-out tours to Auckland, Rotorua, Taranaki, Invercargill and the West Coast.

This is a Nelson success story - giving incredible emerging performers the support to work on their craft while delighting audiences who thought Shakespeare might not be for them. And this is only the beginning, with further plans for international expansion!

So come and celebrate the final show of season two of The Barden Party, with a special showing of Much Ado featuring all company members performing on stage for the first time ever!