Presented by Hambletts
Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes including 20 minute interval
Suitable for 12+
charity. comedy. family. live music. opera. play. poetry. storytelling.
A Beautiful Thread - Thomas Hardy in Words and Music
With Anton Lesser, Lucia Bonbright and a trio from the Orchestra of the Swan
‘Thus she passed under the level boughs’ - Far From the Madding Crowd
Starring Anton Lesser (Endeavour, Wolf Hall, Game of Thrones), this is Hardy’s life story – dramatic as any of his books – told through his sublime poetry, letters, and great novels, including Far From the Madding Crowd, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure.
Anton Lesser and Lucia Bonbright bring a varied cast to dazzling life: from Hardy’s immortal characters and Hardy himself, his mother, Jemima and wives, Emma and Florence, to George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf! The show highlights Hardy’s humour (often overlooked!), his modernity, the astonishing time-span he lived through, and his global reach, from Hollywood to Japan. Adapted by Deirdre Shields, Hardy’s extraordinary writing shines bright as ever.
Thomas Hardy put more music in his novels than any other writer, and Orchestra of the Swan’s Artistic Director, David Le Page has devised a musical programme of shimmering beauty that weaves around the words, from classical music to contemporary folk, performed live by on-stage musicians from Orchestra of the Swan.
Anton Lesser says: “Words and Music is a kind of unique genre, neither pure reading, nor acting, but with an immediacy that comes from the huge emotional impact the music has upon the words, and vice versa, and the interplay we actors enjoy with the musicians on-stage. Quite simply, it’s the most enjoyable thing I’ve ever done!”
‘Absolutely spellbinding - GO AND SEE IT!!’ Ruth Jones, Gavin and Stacey
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Superb' - Broadway World