Blooming Marvellous

ann-evans
Apr 17
2 min read

Craig Shelton and Lucinda Toomey as Mr and Mrs Van Leasing and Laura Smith (centre) as Van Eek. Photo by Richard Smith Photography.

The Just Price of Flowers by James Yarker, Stan's Cafe, in The Loft Studio, Leamington from Tuesday 22 - Saturday 26 April. Directed by Mark Crossley.

Preview

Leamington’s Loft Theatre is re-opening its upstairs studio space with an in-house production of The Just Price of Flowers, by the internationally acclaimed theatre company Stan’s Cafe, which runs from Tuesday 22 to Saturday 26 April. The Birmingham-based group, which works collaboratively under the artistic direction of James Yarker, has been described as “one of the UK's most innovative and exciting theatre companies”.

The production also marks the Loft directorial debut of Mark Crossley, who has been treading the boards of the Loft stage for ten years, appearing most recently in the title roles of Macbeth and Uncle Vanya. Crossley is also a university lecturer who has had a working relationship with Stan’s Cafe for over a quarter of a century, including authoring a book about the company, so who better to bring this play to life at the Loft?

The Just Price of Flowers is a clever and highly entertaining play which uses the Dutch Tulipmania crisis of 1637 as a powerful, yet playful, allegory for the 2008 financial crisis. Mr and Mrs Van Leasing covet a tulip owned by their aristocratic neighbour Van Eek. Egged on by smooth talking banker Van Hire they soon get sucked into the idea that they can grow rich speculating on the rising value of tulips.

Lucinda Toomey and Craig Shelton. Photo by Richard Smith Photography.

As the Director, Mark Crossley, explains, “This play is no mere historical saga, a window on the past through which we can comfortably gaze and then dismiss as ‘the mistakes of the past’. It is after all, a Stan’s Cafe play, so it speaks to the here and now, the tulip mania symbolic of all financial crashes, that leave everyday people to pick up the pieces.”

Tickets can be booked online at www.lofttheatrecompany.com, by emailing the Box Office or calling 01926 830 680 (answer phone service). To take advantage of the Loft’s free ticket offer for theatregoers aged 16-25, either book in advance by emailing boxoffice@lofttheatrecompany.com, or obtain your tickets at the Box Office on the night (please bring proof of age).