Shakespeare in June

Like many travelers, I am constrained by school holidays for my getaways which translates into traveling during the “high season”: higher airfares, higher hotel rooms, higher season tickets, etc.

To find low cost airlines, I comb the websites and New York Times Travel section which is where I found Zoom. Amidst the rash of transatlantic airline bankruptcies, I have selected to fly Zoom to Gatwick from New York for a theater marathon in London. Zoom is not a carnival ride. It is an airline. Although I cannot find a travel agent who has heard of Zoom. The rate was so good that I tried to book additional tickets for January 2009 to see Judd Law in Hamlet at the Wyndham Theatre in the West End. The punch line is that Zoom does not book that far in advance. Fingers-crossed, we take-off and return in June 2008.

My favorite London theaters are The Donmar Warehouse, The National Theatre, The Royal Court Theatre and The Globe. When planning my theater marathons, I check the productions at these play houses first. For summer trips, I start with The Globe followed by the National. The Globe is famous for its Shakespeare productions in Elizabethan garb in the authentic Shakespeare Globe Theatre venue.

The key to a theater marathon is carefully planning your dates to maximize your time in the theater at the lowest cost. Depending on the theater, the productions may be in repertoire which means that the dates alternate between more than one play in the same venue. Unlike New York, Sunday is a day of rest for the theater in London.

The Globe is on the South Bank of the Thames near the Tate Modern and not far from the National Theatre. It is an outdoor venue which like the US Postal Service “neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night” can stay these thespians about their duty to act. Typically, I stand in the “returns line” on the day of the performance at whatever theater I am going to whether it is sold out or not for maximum flexibility. However, I am reforming my ways to take advantage of discounts; and frankly, the returns line at the Globe can be quite chilly. Remember to bring cash if you do pursue the returns line option, neither Visa nor American Express is accepted.

For the independent traveler, there are two ways to secure discounted tickets at the Globe. The first is to purchase a Groundling ticket for about £5 or about $10. You must be prepared to stand with 700 other Groundlings—2 to 3 hours-- for the entire performance in an area not dissimilar to an orchestra pit. My daughter is passionate to become a Groundling. I am NOT! If you purchase tickets for three performances at the same time at the same price ticket, you are eligible for a 10% discount. Since we are visiting London in June and August, my family qualifies for the 10% discount. I booked our tickets for Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, King Lear, a Midsummer’s Night Dream and Timon of Athens. Even with a discount, if you select the best tickets you may still be in for a shock.

Next, I will book our tickets to the National, Donmar and my first trip to Strafford-on-Avon for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) summer season.