London on Stage 2019
Go Learn


October 03-12, 2019
Double Occupancy: $4995 per person
Single Occupancy: $5445 per person
Airfare is not included.

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Welcome to GoLearn's London on Stage

London Tube stationYou have signed up for a treat that starts even before we board any airplanes! Travel with Go Learn means you'll receive pre-journey support and information, and a tour reunion when your travels are over.

Before your tour, Go Learn will be in touch with information about London, its theater scene, packing lists, and detailed transit instructions from Heathrow right to our hotel's doorstep. Tim and Jane will keep you apprised of each play we'll see and its significance, and will let you know the play schedule so that you can plan your free time accordingly.

Feel free to contact us with questions. We're happy to point you to a travel agent who can help you find a flight, or put you in touch with Tim and Jane in case you need the trip leaders' expert opinions. At Go Learn, we want you to hit the ground running, and will provide you with the right information to do just that!

Our faculty trip leaders, Professor Tim Slover and Jane England, have been taking travelers to London for fifteen years—and can't wait to share this magnificent city with you in 2018.

Walking: Please be advised that the London on Stage trip takes full advantage of the city's excellent public transportation—the Tube (subway), trains, and buses. Getting to and from transportation and program venues adds up to 5+ miles of walking per day. Participants who find walking difficult should budget extra expenses for taxis.

Daily Itinerary

London's WhitehallThursday, October 3: Arrivals

We'll meet you at Heathrow Airport and take you to The Rockwell, our charming boutique hotel in South Kensington—where complimentary breakfast is served every morning. After you're settled in, we'll go on a walking tour of Westminster and pay homage to Westminster Palace and Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and St. James's Park—capped by a delicious Welcome Dinner at San Pietro Restaurant. Six travelers untroubled by jetlag will go with us to the Tower of London tonight to experience the centuries-old Ceremony of the Keys. (The rest will get their chance on Sunday night.

Meals: D








Friday, October 4: A New View of Westminster Abbey—and Jane! (Austen)

After a Theatre Chat in the morning to get us ready for the evening’s play, we’ll go on a Tim-guided tour of Westminster Abbey, site of coronations, royal weddings, and 1000 years of English history. Newly opened high up in the triforium are the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, which offer breathtaking views of the Abbey, both inside and outside—not to mention it’s where the marriage license of Will & Kate is displayed. Free afternoon. Tonight’s dinner is at the Menier Chocolate Factory, where we’ll also be seeing our first play, a new comedy by Laura Wade called The Watsons, a bold and playful adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel of the same name.

Meals: B,D

The Four Touchstones of London on Stage

  • The play's the thing. The heart of our trip is seeing plays specially chosen for maximum mental stimulation. We'll pick six plays guaranteed to delight and inspire. These will all be new on the London theater scene, putting you on the cutting edge!
  • Let's talk. We love best what we understand, and understanding comes through learning and discussion. So we'll have Theatre Chats about the plays we're seeing.
  • Relax. We'll plan and take care of all logistics so you can spend every minute experiencing the cultural and historical riches of London.
  • Be together, be free. We'll take you personally to places where having your own tour guide enhances the experience, and we'll also give you plenty of suggestions for how to spend your free time.

Saturday, October 5: Romans and Russians

London's Globe TheatreThis morning we plunge into a world hidden beneath London’s streets and buildings. Britannia was part of the Roman Empire for 400 years, and Londinium was its great trading city on the Thames. We’ll visit the archaeological sites of a Roman house and bath, as well as a dramatically recreated ceremony at the Temple of Mithras. A Chat in the late afternoon will give us the chance to talk about what we’ve seen and get ready for this evening’s play at the Old Vic Theatre: A Very Expensive Poison, Lucy Prebble’s new drama about the shocking 2006 assassination of Russian defector, Alexander Litivenko.

Meals: B




Sunday, October 6: Immigrants and a Wizard

The National GalleryTheatre Chat in the morning. Then we’ll follow Jane to one of her favorite London haunts: the East End, where she’ll educate us (delightfully, of course) about the waves of immigration that have enriched this most cosmopolitan of cities ever since the French Huguenots paved the way in the 17th Century. Lunch—and a spot of shopping—will follow at Spitalfields Market, home to flavorful street food and a hundred artists, artisans, craftsmen, and their wares. Then it’s on to a solo performance by England’s national treasure: Ian McKellen on Stage at the Harold Pinter Theatre. The subtitle of Sir Ian’s show tells it all: With Tolkien, Shakespeare, Others and YOU! That night the rest of us will go to the Tower of London to experience the Ceremony of the Keys.

Meals: B,L



Monday, October 7: Leonardo’s Genius, Zeldin’s Heart

Theatre and Art Chat in the morning—with special guest artist-educator Kent Christensen, who will prepare us for our afternoon treat: an exhibition of Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawings at the Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace (after free time in the morning). Then in the evening we’ll zip across the Thames to the National Theatre for dinner at House Restaurant and a new play at the most intimate of the NT spaces, the Dorfman Theatre. Our play is Faith, Hope, & Charity by Alexander Zeldin, a playwright known for his insights, both searing and inspiring, into the lives of the English in perilous economic times.

Meals: B,D



Tuesday, October 8: A Palate for Pleasure

Theatre Chat in the morning, followed by a foodie extravaganza: we’re booked into a private cheese sampling at Neal’s Yard Dairy in the mecca of gourmet street scrumptiousness, Borough Market. Can’t wait to learn all about—and taste—the mysteries of the artisan cheese world! Then we’ll plunge into the Market for the lunch of your choice. Will it be an ostrich burger, paella, Vietnamese curry, raclette, or fish ‘n’ chips? Free afternoon. In the evening we’ll be back at the National Theatre for a new play by the acclaimed David Hare, Peter Gynt, his particular (brilliant) take on Henrik Ibsen’s masterpiece, Peer Gynt. This time we’re in the largest theatrical space, the Olivier Theatre

Oxford's Bodelian libraryMeals: B,L



Wednesday, October 9: Cambridge Excursion

England has a rich heritage of myths, legends and fantasy literature—from King Arthur and Beowulf to Frodo Baggins and Harry Potter—and today we'll tap into it. We'll visit the British Library to see original manuscripts—including the only one in existence of Beowulf. This is all going to work up an appetite, so we'll have an appropriately magical dinner together this evening.

Meals: B,L








Thursday, October 10: Theatrical Fantasy and Garden Magic

Theatre Chat, followed by a free morning. In the afternoon we’ll be in our usual great seats, this time at Wyndham’s Theatre to see the science fantasy “what if,” The Man in the White Suit, written and directed by Sean Foley, and starring one of England’s premiere comic masters, Stephen Mangan. If the title sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a theatrical adaptation of the Ealing Studios classic of the same name. Dinner is at Antipodea in Kew where you can (finally) have pavlova for dessert if you wish. A few minutes’ walk from the restaurant is the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, where we’ll be going for an evening stroll highlighted by the phantasmagorical glass art of Dale Chihuly, placed and illuminated all around the Gardens. Charlotte will get us ready for that.Theatre Chat, followed by a free morning. In the afternoon we’ll be in our usual great seats, this time at Wyndham’s Theatre to see the science fantasy “what if,” The Man in the White Suit, written and directed by Sean Foley, and starring one of England’s premiere comic masters, Stephen Mangan. If the title sounds familiar, that’s because it’s a theatrical adaptation of the Ealing Studios classic of the same name. Dinner is at Antipodea in Kew where you can (finally) have pavlova for dessert if you wish. A few minutes’ walk from the restaurant is the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, where we’ll be going for an evening stroll highlighted by the phantasmagorical glass art of Dale Chihuly, placed and illuminated all around the Gardens. Charlotte will get us ready for that.

Meals: B,D



London on Stage groupFriday, October 11

One last Chat in the morning, and then the day is yours. But we’ll reconvene for our final play at the National Theatre in the evening, the Lyttleton this time. Our final theatrical event is Hansard, a new play about British politics by Simon Woods and starring the sublime and witty Alex Jennings (Edward VIII in The Crown). And don’t miss the late-night Farewell Party the Rockwell throws for us when we get back to the hotel!

Saturday, October 12: Departures

Sad, but true. Time to start planning your next Go Learn adventure!

Meals: B

Photos courtesy Christoph Dressler, Tim Slover/Jane England