Innovative Theatre

Some of the best theatre today is not on the West End in London or on Broadway in New York. Because of the economics of theater today, you’ll often find the most innovative theatre and really fine actors performing in alternative places.

Our London Theatre tours do not ignore the West End but visit two of London’s best theatre experiences, the Royal Court and the National Theater, both far from the West End but definitely worth the detour.

TRADITIONAL THEATRE ... the best of Broadway and the West End in London.
Plus exploring alternative theatre: rising playwrights, different venues.

Travel By-The-Book : Senior Women's Travel : Favorite Cities : Theatre Tours
Travel by Knife & Fork : Unique Trips

London Theatre

November 1 - 7, 2010

Plays at many of London theatres have short runs, most often a month or two. That makes planning far ahead with a definite schedule of plays we will see difficult. We do know, however, which theatre venues will be on our schedule.

Our tours include a selection of plays from the following venues:

The West End: The Broadway of London.
Royal Court: Small theatres, innovative plays, sometimes outrageous.
National Theatre: Repertory company with several theatres. (History Boys debuted here in 2004, and the New York production won the Tony Award for the best play in 2006.)
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Old Vic: Legendary theatre. Kevin Spacey is artistic director. They do Shakespeare, classic, and new plays.
Donmar Warehouse: Produces both old and new plays, all cutting edge.

Each tour will include three plays selected from these venues plus an optional West End production of your choosing (tickets can be bought at the half-price discount booth in Leicester Square on the morning of the performance).

London theatre offers a wide cornucopia of theatres all over London with extraordinary offerings. What’s different about London theatre is that many plays run for very brief periods from a month to a few months, so it’s not possible to predict what plays will be on our November schedule. Here is a list of “possibles” and “probables” for our November tour:

Billy Elliot, my pick for one of the best musicals I have ever seen. Ioved it in New York; I’m sure London’s version is as good.

War Horse, transferred from the National Theatre to the West End, so you know it is good. Life-sized puppets are the performers of a novel by the children’s laureate (2003-05), Michael Morpugo ... sounds intriguing.

The Old Vic is offering Noel Coward’s Design for Living ... and there’s sure to be something wonderful at the National Theatre.

Pick up a copy of Time Out’s 2010 1000 Things To Do in London. Diverting reading. Just a few of the suggestions: #95-97 Take a Bat Walk; #98 Gird your loins at the Queen’s corseter. Just thinking about that one makes me draw my breath in. And how about #99 Orienteer, the art of navigating round a course in the shortest possible time.

See you for tea at our favorite London tea salon ... clue: it’s not the Ritz or Fortnum & Mason.

The Royal Court Theatre

Day 1
Arrive in London and transfer on your own to our hotel. The London Express whizzes you into the center of London in 20 minutes. Take a taxi to the hotel from Paddington Station.

Plans for the day are loose until we know time of your arrival and your energy level.

Evening: Attend performance at the Royal Court Theatre, just across the street from our hotel.

Day 2
We spend most of the day in the Covent Garden area:

Walking Tour of the West End
A visit to the Royal Opera House
Backstage tour of Royal Drury
Matinee performance in the West End

London from Portrait Restaurant

Day 3
We visit The National Portrait Gallery to look at portraits of actors, writers, and other luminaries. This museum is considered by some as the best museum in London. Lunch at the Portrait Restaurant with its wonderful food and stunning views of London from its roof-top location. This meal will be our dinner.

Then we will visit the National Gallery, a huge museum right next to the Portrait Gallery. Tour the museum for an hour or two. There are special lunch-time lectures and innovative 10-minute Art Talks in front of specific pictures. If there is a special exhibit, you may want to visit it. The museum is free, but there is a charge for special exhibits (not included in tour price).

Your third play will be on Day 3 or Day 4 in the evening.

Borough Market

Day 4
Visit Borough Market, an exciting food market featuring dozens of artisan food stalls that sell cheeses, charcuterie, bakery goods, etc. Coffee at the famed Monmouth Coffee Co. lauded in recent Gourmet magazine. Visit Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Although there are no performances, it’s a fascinating venue with many interactive features.

Afternoon: Shakespeare and Dickens walking tour.

Day 5
Optional Day to do just as you wish. .. shop, go to museum, take city sightseeing bus, etc. We’ll help you plan the day.

You can have dinner on your own or we can dine as a group.

The Old Vic Theatre

Day 6

Go to Leicester Square to buy discount tickets for evening performance on the West End.

Visit the Wallace Collection, a stately house that features an impressive collection of Old Master paintings, armor, French furniture, and porcelain. There’s a charming glass-roofed courtyard restaurant where we can have lunch.

At 6 p.m., we’ll wind up our tour with English high tea at the Hyatt Carlton near our hotel.

Evening: Optional theatre performance.

Day 7
Depart for home.

Note: Itinerary days may be switched around to reflect days of walking tours, matinee, lectures, and other considerations.

Cost
$3,450 (USD) includes hotel for six nights (single occupancy), three theatre tickets, four dinners, a one week Tube and bus pass, entrance to Globe theatre and walking tour. Price does not include airfare, airport transfers, breakfasts (the hotel charges about $25 for a full English breakfast but you can eat for much less or eat more at a very good restaurant across the street), lunches, two dinners, special museum exhibits, coffee stops, personal expenses, alcoholic beverages.

Our hotel: The Sloane Square Hotel, our preferred hotel in London, has been closed for renovation for two years. It reopened in October 2006, with smaller rooms and a price increase of about $100 a night. I still feel that is the best possible hotel for our London tours. The location is wonderful, on Sloane Square, right across the street from the Royal Court theatre, a short bus ride to Harrod’s and Harvey Nichols. There’s a tube stop across the street and many buses to whisk us around London, and great shopping and restaurants at our doorstop. (Website: www.sloanesquarehotel.co.uk).

As the departure date gets closer, there will probably be changes in scheduling. For example, there are platform talks/interviews held once a week at the National Theatre. These talks are usually interviews with actors/writers/directors/designers of one of the shows, or talks/interviews with theatre people about their careers. Naturally, we will try to coordinate our seeing of a play with the National Theatre platform talk. There are also concerts at various halls that we may try to coordinate with our schedule if time allows.