Become a Home Based Travel Agent

All the World’s a Stage
The UK for the Performing Arts
By: Paul Tickner

In my earlier columns, I have looked at some of the bright ideas your old friend Britain can offer those of you interested in Girls Getaways, and in converting the likes of Agatha Christie, Inspector Morse, Jane Austen, Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland into money making UK tours.

The focus this month is on how the Performing Arts can become a very good theme for a Britain-bound tour. 

The sources for a potential small group are all there on your doorstep and include the Friends of your local theatre, symphony and opera company.  Check to see if there’s  a Gilbert and Sullivan Society near you and ask if they have ever been offered four or five days at the annual Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton England?  They will no doubt know about it and may want to go but don’t know how to make the travel arrangements.  Is there a local arts or literary festival that might enjoy a fund raising trip to a UK festival to enjoy and see how we do things over here? 

In developing this performing arts theme, I am also bringing in historical re-enactments.  I know many re-enactors are on a tight budget but some might really enjoy a front and backstage visit, using a 16^th century coaching inn for their accommodation.

For theatre lovers, London can offer so much more than wall-to-wall West End musicals during their 6-7 night stay.  We can spice it up with backstage tours of the National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, an actor led tour of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and an evening of pub theatre at the Kings Head, Islington, a hotbed of new and exciting talent for more than 35 years.  Sunday morning Worship could be at the ‘Actors Church’ in Covent Garden.  Between late May and early September you will be able to catch performances of ‘The Tempest’, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and ‘Hello Dolly’ at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park.

Shakespear's Globe Theatre

Out of London, an evening at The Minack Theatre, with the English Channel as your backdrop, takes any Cornwall tour to a higher level.  Their season runs from 9th April to 20^th September.

In Swansea, the Merlyn Theatre Company will transform your appreciation of Dylan Thomas, Wales’ most famous poet.  While here in South Wales, for a small group, my friend Val Williams, will enthral you as she brings this ancient art of storytelling alive before you eyes and ears, around a blazing log fire in an ancient coaching inn or whilst walking the corridors of a reputedly haunted inn…

In Stratford upon Avon, this year’s Shakespearian feast from the Royal Shakespeare Company offers ‘The Winter’s Tale’, a play about jealousy, loss and redemption, and ‘As You Like It’ one of the Bard’s greatest comedies. Add something extra to your time here with a somewhat theatrical walking tour of the town and then visit each of the Shakespeare House where costumed interpreters bring to life the Elizabethan Age.  Don’t miss the flying performance given by he birds of prey at Mary Arden’s House.

While in this neck of the woods you should add a few hours at moated, medieval Broughton Castle that was used for the filming of Shakespeare in Love.

Just south of here, at the end of July and perfect for families on holiday, don’t miss the annual Festival of History, the largest event of its kind in Europe at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire.  Hear the thud of Roman soldiers as they march in unison, the thunder of charging horses, the sounds of swords clashing as Knights engage in battle and the roar of vintage aircraft as they soar overhead.  Later in the year, in October you can watch 400 soldiers clash during the annual staging of the 1066 ‘making of history’ Battle of Hastings.

Battle of Hastings

Throughout the year, there are music and arts festivals galore across the UK.  This can be made to work in two ways.  Using a town or city when it is in festival mode can add all sorts of extra dimensions to a trip.  Alternatively, it is possible to link cities together so that you catch a few days in each one as you travel along.  Examples include the cities of Brighton, Salisbury and Bath during May and in July The York Early Music Festival and the Buxton Opera Festival precede a couple of days in the ancient city of Chester.

If music is your client’s passion, and choral music in particular, a few days at the Southern Cathedrals Festival (June) or the Three Choirs Festival (August) will fit the bill beautifully.

Back in London, the English National Ballet is featuring two fabulous premieres together with the revival of some of the works the Company first produced in the 1950s when it was born.

The Nutcraker

At the Royal Opera House and during their October – June season, you can enjoy a Tea Dance and waltz, tango, cha-cha-cha and quickstep to the strains of the Royal Opera House Dance Band. 

Give this some thought.  You have the clients who’d love to have a UK tour tailored to include some of these memorable experiences.