OVERVIEW

Participants in “On-Stage in the British Isles” will experience the performing arts scenes of the dynamic and culturally rich cities of London, Edinburgh, and Dublin. Long-standing theatrical hubs, each location provides insight into the history, development, and current state of performing arts. We’ll visit theaters large and small, watch historical plays and experimental productions, enjoy spoken-word, music, and dance.

By staying in comfortable and centrally located hotels, we’ll have easy access to significant cultural sites such as the British Museum, Edinburgh Castle, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. A typical day in London might include morning on your own (take a walk in nearby Holland Park or the Notting Hill neighborhood), an afternoon tour of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Theatre and Performance collection, and an evening performance of Macbeth at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse—the historic Globe Theatre’s indoor stage.

Days in Edinburgh, site of an internationally renowned theater festival, and Dublin, a city steeped in British performance history, will be similarly paced. Participants will have ample time to explore each city according to their own interests and the advice of faculty sponsors and Seminars International support staff.  Join us for an interim filled with history, culture, and entertainment.

ANTICIPATED ITINERARY

While some elements are subject to change, the anticipated itinerary gives students a more detailed picture regarding length of stay and planned activities.

LONDON: 6 DAYS

London offers a dense network of historical and contemporary performing arts sites. We’ll attend four performances as a class and stay in London for six nights. Cultural locations that we’ll visit as part of our program include the British Library, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Museum, and the Old Vic Theatre. These institutions contain a rich trove of material related to the performing arts.

The list of London theaters is long; add to that opportunities for other performing arts such as dance, music, and song, and opportunities exceed available time.

EDINBURGH: 5 DAYS

We’ll travel from London to Edinburgh by rail (rail ticket included in course tuition) where we’ll stay for five days and nights. Like London, Edinburgh is steeped in the history of British performing arts and central to its contemporary expression. We’ll visit sites such as the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle, and the Scottish National Gallery.

Although the Edinburgh Theatre-Royal exists only in record, the city is home to a wide variety of performance spaces. We’ll attend three performances in Edinburgh and tour the Lyceum Theatre.

DUBLIN: 4 DAYS

We’ll fly from Edinburgh to Dublin (plane ticket included in course tuition), leaving the United Kingdom and entering the Republic of Ireland. Our stay in Dublin will last four days and four nights. Dublin is a particularly interesting location for its history of intersection with and resistance to British culture emanating from London. On our walking tour of Dublin, we’ll see landmarks such as Trinity College, Dublin Castle, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. During our stay, we’ll spend more time at cultural locations such as the Chester Beatty Library and the National Gallery of Ireland.

Two theaters in eighteenth-century Dublin vied for audience attendance: the Smock Alley Theatre and the Crow Street Theatre. Although the Smock Alley Theatre still exists, we’ll tour and attend a performance at the Abbey Theatre, a twentieth-century theater closely allied to a more explicitly Irish national arts movement.

LOGISTICS AND OTHER DETAILS

Throughout the course, we’ll be working with Sovereign Tourism, which is responsible for logistics ranging from airline tickets to hotels to performance reservations and restaurants for select meals. Oyster cards for public transportation in London are included in the course tuition. Edinburgh and Dublin are smaller and more walkable with all locations within 30 minutes of our accommodations. Hotels provide free breakfast to guests, and four group dinners (one in London, one in Edinburgh, and two in Dublin) are included in the course tuition. Entrance fees to sites listed in our itinerary as places that we’ll visit are likewise included in the course tuition.

Anticipated costs that are not included in the course tuition but are listed as “out of pocket” include meals (approximately 15 lunches and 11 dinners) and the cost of purchasing or renewing a passport.

Students will have ample time to pursue their own interests–approximately one day in each city. Costs associated with visits to locations not listed on itinerary are not represented in course costs or out-of-pocket costs.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information on this interim opportunity, feel free to contact Dr. Catherine Schmitz (schmitzcl@wofford.edu) or Dr. John Ware (warejm@wofford.edu).