Starring Anton Lesser (Game of Thrones, Wolf Hall, Endeavour) alongside Lucia Bonbright with Orchestra of the Swan. 

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A celebration of Thomas Hardy in his own words; poetry, novels, and the music he loved so much.

A Beautiful Thread weaves Hardy’s life – dramatic as any of his books – with his poetry and great novels, including Tess of the d’Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure.

The script is written by Deirdre Shields (Red Sky at Sunrise; Laurie Lee in Words and Music, GEORGE Eliot in Words and Music).

Hardy put more music into his work than any other writer, and Orchestra of the Swan’s Artistic Director, David Le Page, has devised a musical programme of shimmering beauty - a Mellstock folk band style, that combines West Gallery Music from the village churches of the 1840’s with Holst, Purcell, and contemporary folk.
 

Overview of A Beautiful Thread from Writer, Deirdre Shields

"The challenge with Thomas Hardy – monumental novelist, extraordinary poet – was always going to be ‘Where to begin?’. Until it dawned on me that the place to start would be with an ending - Hardy’s own, which is even more Thomas Hardy than a Thomas Hardy novel. That gave us all a way in.

Judy Reaves and David Hamblett have created something truly extraordinary with their imaginative recreation of Words and Music, producing something that is nothing less than a whole new way of performing.

​Anton, Lucia, David and the wonderful musicians of Orchestra of the Swan bring all the magic, and we very much hope you enjoy our telling of Hardy’s novels, poetry, life and music."​​​​​

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