Explorers: The Age of Discovery with James May
Tickets for this event go on sale from 10am Fri 2 May 2025.
Priority booking for Barbican members opens from 10am Wed 30 Apr 2025. Priority booking links will be shared via the Members' newsletter. Please get in touch if you haven't received it.
Join James May for a landmark live show, bringing to life the stories of the extraordinary explorers who traversed the deserts, scaled the mountains, sailed into the unknown.
From Ice Age migrations to space travel, the stories of famous, infamous and unknown explorers will come to life in a theatrical style, presented by British television presenter and award-winning journalist James May. James May is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programs Top Gear and The Grand Tour, and as the host of the Our Man in… TV series.
Live on stage, James May will unravel the breathtaking tales of humankind from the earliest wanderings of ancient hunter-gatherers to the intrepid, often obsessive explorers, among them Lief Ericson, John Cabot, James Cook’s navigator Tupaia, Stanley and Livingstone, Gertrude Bell, Burke and Wills, through to the moon walkers, space exploration and the seemingly impossible challenges of interplanetary and intergalactic travel.
Tickets for this event go on sale from 10am Fri 2 May 2025.
Priority booking for Barbican members opens from 10am Wed 30 Apr 2025. Priority booking links will be shared via the Members' newsletter. Please get in touch if you haven't received it.
Barbican Hall
Location
The Barbican Hall is located within the main Barbican building. Head to Level G and follow the signs to find your seating level.
Address
Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8DS
Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.
We’ve plenty of places for you to relax and replenish, from coffee and cake to wood-fired pizzas and full pre-theatre menus
Mobility
Spaces for wheelchair users in row U at the rear of the stalls (up to sixteen, depth of row 180cm) and the back row of the circle (four), both with fold-down companion seats. Some seats in row S of the stalls for people with very limited mobility.
Assistance dogs
Assistance dogs may be taken into the concert hall where there are a limited number of suitable seats in row G of the stalls. If you prefer, you may leave your dog with a member of the cloakroom staff during the performance.
Hearing facility
There is an induction loop in the concert hall. You can use this by adjusting your hearing aid to the ‘T’ setting.
Free large-print programmes
These are available for most of our concerts. Please contact [email protected] at least a week beforehand, to prebook a large-print programmme.
For more access information, please visit our Accessibility section.
