Those interested in learning more about taking part in the trip are invited to an informational meeting, Thursday, January 31, 12 noon in Maynard Hall's Guthery Community Room on campus.

While visiting Shakespeare's England-London and Stratford-on-Avon the group will learn about Shakespeare's role in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, as well as his influence on the drama today.

During the stay in London, the tour group will enjoy guided and walking tours; a drama workshop and a play at the New Globe Theater; a play in London's West End Theater District; and an exploration of areas Shakespeare would have been known.  While in Stratford-on Avon, the group will visit Shakespeare's birthplace museum and other locations associated with the Bard, and visit the Royal Shakespeare Company, where they'll take in another play.

Tour leader Marcia Dickson, an associate professor emeritus of English from Ohio State Marion, feels opening the tour group to include both Ohio State Marion students and community members will give the group a unique mix of participants.  The hope for all our tour participants, explained Dickson, would be to acquire "more knowledge than we can imagine."

So…let's go England!  Contact Lynda Behan at 740-725-6284 for costs and detailed information about the trip and registration instructions.  It's a great trip for students, friends, couples, parents and children, or grandparents and grandchildren.  Enrich your education; enrich your life.  Last chance tour cancellation is February 8, 2008.

Tour Itinerary:
Day 1-Tuesday, June 10:  The group departs on an overnight flight from Columbus International Airport (the departure may change by a day or two, but right now we're targeting the 10th.)

Day 2-Wednesday, June 11:  The first group adventure will be a walking tour of London and a visit to the Theatre Museum.

Day 3-Thursday, June 12:  To see more of London, we'll take a guided sightseeing tour during the day and see an evening theatre performance in London's West End.  (Which plays we'll see is a mystery right now, but we've been promised Shakespearean dramas and either a comedy or a serious drama.)

Day 4-Friday June 13:  The group will transfer to Stratford-on-Avon, where we'll see   the birth-place museum, Anne Hathaway's cottage, and other Tudor buildings and museums associated with Shakespeare.  We'll go backstage at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, to get a look at the background of the current production.  That evening we'll see a play at one of the three Royal Shakespeare Theatres.

Day 5-Saturday, June 14:  After traveling back to London, attend a New Globe Theatre workshop and a play at the New Globe. (If the New Globe Theatre isn't available for some reason, we'll see another West End production.)

Day 6-Sunday, June 15:  Our journey takes us to the Tower of London. The rest of the day will be yours to explore whatever you wanted to see but missed.

Day 7-Monday June 16:  Weary, but full of knowledge, we'll return home.

Included in the program fee:
• Round trip airfare
• Transfers to and from the airport and hotel and between destination cities
• Overnight stays in first-class, superior tourist class or tourist class hotels-all with private bathrooms.
• Continental breakfast daily
• Dinner daily
• Full-time services of an EF Tour Director
• 7-Day London Tube travel card

Not included in the program fee:
• Customary gratuities for your tour director, local guide and driver
• Porterage   (the shifting of baggage)
• Personal insurance
• Beverages and lunches
• Public transportation to free time activities
• Spending money for souvenirs and personal sundries