ACTOR Anton Lesser could hardly have been a more appropriate choice to read the words of Thomas Hardy, a man with whom he shares qualifications as an architect, and a subsequent and far more successful and famous career.

And on an unforecastly beautiful evening, just west of the world famous Stonehenge, Mr Lesser joined actress Lucia Bonbright and the musicians of the Orchestra of the Swan for a performance of A Beautiful Thread, a 90-minute celebration of the life of Dorset’s most famous writer, with a selection of words and music – some familiar, some new and some adapted from the folk songs that the Dorset writer would have known.

Writer Dierdre Shields and director July Reaves worked together to select the dialogue from Hardy’s novels and poems, and words from his two wives and a number of fans, critics and even from the future king (only he wasn’t, in the end, of course!). The Orchestra’s director David le Page composed several pieces to illustrate Hardy’s life, and, with his nine-strong ensemble, evoked not only the familiar characters but the essence of life in Hardy’s own Dorset.

The weather up on the Plain is unpredictable, and Wiltshire Creative worked with TP Sound to ensure that everyone in the audience could hear, whatever the wind and passing wildlife might have in mind. Sitting with disco-flickering headsets, the audience sat in rapt silence, learning all about Thomas Hardy the man, his loves, his disappointments, his hopes and his regrets. Anton Lesser captured his determination, ceaseless work ethic, powerful sense of place and sceptical romanticism, bringing to life a fiercely intelligent, widely read, sometimes impatient and often infuriating but kind man whose impact on the literature of Britain cannot be overestimated.

Lucia Bonbright, a recent drama school graduate, morphed easily from one accent to another as she read the words of the great Hardy heroines, of his mother and his two wives and of eager readers, and unwelcome guests at Max Gate, the house in Dorchester that he designed and where he lived.

The weather gods, smiling down from flotillas of white cloud behind the massive and always magical stones, could not have been more benevolent. This will have been an evening that the audience will remember, always.

Huge congratulations to all the performers, and those who had faith and hope to mount the show on a Wednesday evening in May.

The show was first performed last autumn, and started a short tour at Stonehenge, a place well known by Thomas Hardy and the setting for an iconic scene in Tess of the D’Urbervilles. On Sunday 1st June, the company moves to Stinsford Church near Dorchester, another famous location for Hardy characters, for two performances before heading around the country to venues ending at Wilton’s Music Hall in London in September.

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Photographs by Kin Ho