Creditors left high and dry as Shakespeare's Rose Theatre shuts its doors

Shakespeare and his fellow actors once dismantled a theatre and rebuilt it timber by timber on a new site in London after a dispute with their landlord. It was the original moonlight flit – and kept the theatre company trading from a new address.

The Bard may not have been so impressed by the collapse of a theatre company last month that used his name to market their productions. Administrators Auker Rhodes have been called in to Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre Limited in York when their two pop-up theatres collapsed in financial ruins due to trading difficulties.

The parent company Lunchbox Theatrical Productions has also gone into administration due to Brexit uncertainties they said along with low audience figures with administrators appointed on October 18, 2019.

They ran two pop-up Shakespearean theatres in York and at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, while Lunchbox also ran a number of ice-themed events such as Peter Pan on Ice.

The Stage has reported that creditors include the actors and support staff at the pop-up theatres. They said: “Equity is now supporting 76 members and said it has helped to collate amounts that performers claim to be owed, currently totalling £15,000, and submitted them to liquidators. According to the union, there were around 90 performers, stage management and creative team roles across both sites.”

The BBC reported: “In 2018, the York pop-up attracted 78,000 visitors, but only 47,000 in 2019. About 38,000 visited the theatre at Blenheim Palace instead of the 75,000 the company expected.”

ICSM Credit’s Ian Carrotte said: “Hopefully the administrators will be able to reimburse the staff and actors of owed wages plus expenses and interest. For the company to blame the closure on Brexit is laughable. Clearly, they didn’t sell enough tickets.”

LunchBox’s chief executive James Cundall was awarded an MBE in 2018 for services to the entertainment industry.

Workers left out of pocket by firms that fail to pay redundancy money or back wages can claim a statutory amount from the Government. Visit https://www.gov.uk/claim-redundancy

For details about ICSM Credit call 0844 854 1850 or visit the website www.icsmcredit.com or email Ian at Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com on how to subscribe and to join the UK’s credit intelligence network to avoid bad debts and late payers. Follow ICSM Credit on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube and Ian Carrotte on LinkedIn.