2013 London Theater Seminar with Professor Murray BiggsMarch 13–21, 2013

Educational TravelYale

Since these annual London theater semi-nars began in 1993, alumni have sampled world-class performances of world theater: from Shakespeare and other classics to Ibsen, Chekhov and their fellow moderns, to con-temporary playwrights like Pinter, Bennett, Stoppard, Frayn, Friel, and McDonagh. And they have seen performances by such lumi-naries as Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Corin Redgrave, Fiona Shaw, and Rachel Weisz.

Y A L E F A C U L T Y L E A D E R

Murray Biggs, Adjunct Associate Professor of English and Theater Studies at Yale, is known throughout the campus and with alumni every-where for his dynamic teaching style that inspires great enthusiasm and active participation. He has led week-long theater seminars in various loca-tions: most often in London, at the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, and the Shaw Fes-tival in Niagara-on-the-Lake. He has also offered theater weekends in major cities in the U.S., most regularly in New York City.

Professor Biggs was born in England, brought up in South Africa, and returned to England as a Rhodes Scholar to take his second degree (in Eng-lish) at Oxford, where he afterwards taught for two years. He later studied acting and for a time performed professionally in Boston. He worked at MIT for ten years, mainly as founder and first Director of the MIT Shakespeare Ensemble. He also taught at Wellesley, Berkeley, and the University of Connecticut before joining the Yale faculty in 1986. He has published many articles and reviews, especially about Shakespeare and his contemporaries in performance. In 1991 he edited a collection of essays, The Arts of Performance in Elizabethan and Early Stuart Drama. He has directed over 40 plays, a third of them from the English Renaissance.

Additional YET programs with Professor Murray Biggs:Best of Ontario Theater | August 8–16, 2013NYC Theater Weekend | November 8–10, 2013 (limited space)

L O N D O N T H E A T E R

March 13–21, 2013Join us for this highly customized, Yale exclusive seminar sampling the very best of London theater. Professor Biggs will select seven representative plays in all, including both traditional and modern works. The program aims at both variety and quality in the choice of plays, productions, and venues, providing an excellent sampling of the breadth of London theater. Two days will feature excursions to important theater venues.

Each day, Professor Biggs will lead a discussion on the play that the group has just seen and introduce the play that they will see later that day. Partici-pants will be invited to contribute their views of each play and performance. With the exception of two group excursions and a matinee, afternoons will be free to explore museums, art galleries, and other London attractions.

The group will stay at the Montague on the Gardens Hotel at 15 Montague Street. Located in the histor-ic and literary Bloomsbury district, the Montague is a luxury townhouse hotel overlooking a private garden close to the British Museum and Covent Garden. Fully air-conditioned guest rooms and hotel suites provide the ambience of a fine country hotel on a London side street. Convenient to museums and theaters as well as some of London’s best shopping and restaurants, the Montague is an excellent base from which to take advantage of London’s splendid cultural offerings.

Updated  Schedule              11/26/12        

Wednesday, March 13

Depart for London. You may wish to arrive a day or two early to

better recover from jet-lag.

Thursday, March 14

Mid-afternoon welcome and discussion at The Paul Mellon

Centre for Studies in British Art, the home of the Yale-in-London

Program. Professor Murray Biggs will introduce the first play,

followed by a welcome dinner before the performance of The

Captain of Köpenick by Carl Zuckmayer at the National Theatre.

Friday, March 15

Morning discussion. Optional group dinner followed by

performance of Longing, based on stories by Anton Chekhov at

the Hampstead Theatre.

Saturday, March 16

Morning discussion and backstage tour of the National Theatre.

Optional group dinner followed by performance of Trelawny of

the Wells by Arthur Wing Pinero at the Donmar Warehouse

Theatre.

Sunday, March 17

Day at leisure.

Monday, March 18

Morning discussion and tour of the public rooms and theater

collections of the Garrick Club, a private club for theater artists

and other professionals. Optional group dinner followed by

performance of The Man Who Pays the Piper by G.B. Stern at

the Orange Tree Theatre.

Tuesday, March 19

Morning discussion. Matinee performance of Laburnum Grove by

J.B. Priestley at the Finborough Theatre. Optional group dinner

followed by performance of Rutherford and Son by Githa Sowerby

at the Rose Theatre, Kingston.

Wednesday, March 20

Morning discussion. Farewell dinner followed by performance of

People, a new play by Alan Bennett at the National Theatre.

Thursday, March 21

Departure after breakfast

 A  Note  on  the  Productions    by  Professor  Biggs

Our program this year focuses mainly on the drama of the

early 20th century, most of it British. We begin, however,

at the Royal National Theatre on the south bank of the

Thames with an adaptation by the British writer John

Mortimer of a modern German classic, The Captain of

Köpenick of 1931.

Following that, on Friday evening, we treat ourselves to

something rarer: a dramatization of two prose works by

Anton Chekhov: the novella “My Life (The Story of a

Provincial)” (1896) and the short story, “A Visit to

Friends” of 1898. This production is in the hands of the

recently revitalized Hampstead Theatre run by Sir Peter

Hall’s son Edward.

On Saturday evening we begin our truly English journey

with a revival from 1898 of Trelawny of the “Wells” by Sir

Arthur Wing Pinero, arguably the leading dramatist of his

day and now being plentifully re-discovered. For this

event we shall be at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre (just

off the West End), again a powerhouse on London’s

thriving theatre scene.

Our next three plays take us farther afield: first to the

Orange Tree in Richmond (surely London’s most

delightful small theatre) for The Man Who Pays the Piper

(1931) by the woman writer G.B. Stern; then to a matinee

of J.B. Priestley’s Laburnum Grove (1934) at the

Finborough, London’s most enterprising pub theatre; and

finally Rutherford and Son (1912), another play by a

woman, Githa Sowerby, at the handsome new Rose

Theatre in Kingston.

For our last evening we return to the National Theatre for

a brand-new play by Alan Bennett called People, a sly yet

obliquely affectionate portrait of a family that has long

owned a house that the National Trust hopes to acquire.

The Program Program Highlights• Tickets to seven plays, selected by Professor Murray Biggs

• Series of lectures and discussions

• Scripts of plays to read in advance of the productions

• Accommodations at the famed Montague on the Gardens Hotel for seven nights including English breakfast

• Transportation to all performances

• Welcome and Farewell dinners

• Private tours of the Garrick Club and a prominent London theater Program costsWe are pleased to offer the London Theater Seminar at the excellent rate of $4,900 per person based on double occupancy. The single supplement is $1,100. A deposit of $1,000 per person is due with the registration form. Final payment is due on December 14, 2012.

Not includedAirfare; passport and visa expenses; accident, travel and baggage insurance; meals except as specified above; personal expenses such as laundry and telephone calls; airport transportation.

Cancellation PolicyThe deposit less a $300 per person administrative fee is refund-able until December 14, 2012 upon receipt of a written cancel-lation at YET. There are no refunds after January 5, 2013. We strongly urge participants to purchase travel insurance.

SelloutThe program is limited to 35 participants. Theater programs with Murray Biggs usually sell out within a few weeks of the brochure mailing. In order to ensure your participation, please return the registration form with payment promptly. Online registration is the fastest way to secure your place. www.YaleEdTravel.org/london13

For information on other programs offered by YET, please visit www.Yale EdTravel.org. Or you may contact us at edtravel@yale.edu or 203-432-1952.

kPhoto credits:Center cover image courtesy of Matthew Lloyd, www.arthurlloyd.co.ukNoel Coward Theatre photo courtesy of www.covent-garden.co.uk

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