GUEST BLOG—Eureka! The Stratford Excursion

Eureka! The Stratford Festival Excursion  (July 17–19, 2015)

You are invited to join us for the Stratford Excursion. We have limited seating available and hope you will not procrastinate. There has been an unexpected early rush and we are over 50 percent booked already. We have announced the plays on the Classical Pursuits website, but the weekend includes performances of Hamlet, She Stoops to Conquer and The Diary of Anne Frank.

 

 

 

 

 

While creating a season based on the idea of “discovery” Antoni Cimolini, Festival Artistic Director, named the 2015 Festival theme Discovery: That Eureka Moment. He defines eureka as “a sudden flash of insight or understanding” and has created a playbill that includes a vast range of plays where “eureka moments” will take us in many directions. Last year the theme was Madness. Here is Colm Feore talking about how he prepared for the role of King Lear.

We will depart in the comfort of a private motor coach from the Park Hyatt in Toronto on Friday morning. Upon our arrival in Stratford, we will enjoy a traditional pub-style lunch at a local restaurant and then take a leisurely walk to the historic Queens Inn, where we will be staying Friday and Saturday night. There will be a welcome reception on Friday and a full brunch provided on Sunday morning at Henry’s at the Queen’s Inn prior to our return to Toronto.

For the main event, we will attend three world-class performances at the Avon and Festival Theatre, two of the four theatres in Stratford. You will have free time to just relax, visit the many quaint shops, walk along the riverfront, enjoy Art in the Park or explore Stratford on your own.  If you wish to see another production, our schedule will allow you to do so. A fourth show is optional, not included in the fee, but will work nicely after lunch on Friday. The musical drama Carousel by Rodgers and Hammerstein is conveniently showing at the nearby Avon Theatre. Rush tickets should be available, we will provide further details if you are interested.

Thursday evening prior to our scheduled departure, you are invited to gather with us for dinner in Toronto to meet your fellow travellers. We will walk to a local eatery for an early dinner. You will want to keep this in mind as you make your travel arrangements. We recommend an early afternoon arrival, so you can join us and be well rested for the Friday a.m. departure.

We do hope you will consider making the Stratford Excursion part of your summer travel to Toronto along with the week of Toronto Pursuits seminars. It is a perfect way to extend your Classical Pursuits experience.

For all the details and to register, go to the Classical Pursuits website now. Please contact us if you need any additional information at this time. We look forward to sharing another Stratford weekend with you before we begin the Toronto Pursuits week in July.

You won’t want to miss this opportunity to discover another exciting “eureka moment.”

With warm regards,

Pat & Gary Schoepfel