The Barden Party presents: Cocktales

Have you ever wanted to have a cocktail party with your favourite literary heroes? William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe are here to ruin that dream for you.

Brought to you by the award-winning Barden Party who presented summer garden shows of Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream across all of Aotearoa for the past two years, 'Cocktales' is the company's first winter offering. We will transform Kismet into an Enlightenment-era salon - full of grand ideas, humour, poise, song and whimsy. William Shakespeare, himself, is here to ensure that. The only problem is, his literary bff, Edgar Allan Poe, complete with his famed Gothic texts, has never been to such a party before and seems deadset on making Bill's life as difficult as possible. Doors open at 7 for cocktail hour when Shakespeare and Poe will be behind the bar making your drinks with Kismet's staff. Show starts promptly at 8 pm. Kismet has also designed two signature cocktails for our season and you will the first to try them! Are you a Poe or a Shakespeare?

At 8 pm the shenanigans will begin. Over the course of an hour, immerse yourselves in the worlds of two of the English-language's most underrated larrikins as they try to impress you with their particular command of language, music, cocktail making skills and insight into the human condition. Or they might just forget about that and have a raucous night. You will too! And you never know, some other great minds of history might attend as surprise guests too! So book The Barden Party’s first ever winter show now! This will be our first PUBLIC performance of 'Cocktales'. Tickets limited to 50.
If you can't make it on the night, this show is available for private at-home bookings for up to 30 people as well. 'Cocktales' will be the most talked about shindig you've ever thrown. Enquire for a private show on our website or by emailing hownow@thebardenparty.com

Written by Howlett, Irish and James.
Performed by Caleb James and Ollie Howlett
Directed by Laura Irish