Review: A BEAUTIFUL THREAD: THOMAS HARDY IN WORDS AND MUSIC, Starring Anton Lesser

As a nation our favourite pastime is to grumble about the weather. So, you'd imagine the last thing we'd want to do is go to Stonehenge – typically one of the most windy and rainy spots in Britain – for a site specific evening of Thomas Hardy's words and music, starring Anton Lesser.

But trot along we do – groundlings with our picnic blankets, sandwiches, flasks of tea and headphones that Wiltshire Creative staff and volunteers have cheerily handed out – to the Stone Circle on Salisbury Plain. And we are not only rewarded with sun, clear skies and nary a breeze – but also a superb show (written by Deirdre Shields and directed by Judy Reaves) kicking off this year's Salisbury International Arts Festival ­– weaving readings from Hardy's diaries, poetry and novels with folk music with a contemporary spin from composer David Le Page and the eight other talented musicians from Orchestra of the Swan.

Anton, who's fast becoming a National Treasure, strides out in front of the Neolithic rocks (looked after by English Heritage and now part of a World Heritage site with Avebury), looking dapper in a white linen jacket, burnt orange vest, blue jeans and brown boots. Hardy, who said he had a liking for "the state of dim conjecture in which we stand with regard to Stonehenge's history" would have approved of Lesser's stance by the prehistoric monument.

Lesser's joined by actress Lucia Bonbright, with long golden curls like Hardy's heroines Bathsheba Everdene (Far From The Madding Crowd) and Tess Durbeyfield (Tess of the d'ubervilles). She wears a blue dress to match the sky, white jacket and boots accompanying Lesser's colour palette. She not only reads Hardy's words with passion and at times a definite hint of cheekiness, but also has a remarkable mastery of accents ­– and she sings beautifully. There's great camaraderie between the two actors from different generations, having performed before in previous words and music series from the producer Hambletts Productions.

It's marvellous getting a pretty clean feed on the headphones, despite my companion's headphones not working for part of the show (he says he enjoys listening au naturel as well as amplified) and Lesser's radio mic going down twice. The radio mic malfunction was rectified quickly and Lesser's grace about the whole matter somehow added to the relaxed nature of the evening.

David Le Page's arrangements lend an experimental, contemporary edge to traditional tunes, such as the 'Apple Tree Wassail' and 'The Seeds of Love', with furious West Country fiddling on his violin, which reminds me of Acadian music from Canada (think Come From Away transported to Wiltshire). There's also a hint of Michael Nyman (The Piano).

As well as Le Page's brilliant solos everyone enjoys wonderful solos on flute and piccolo too (perfect for creating birdsong in 'Gabriel's Flute') by Diane Clark, and Anthony Thompson also stands out on trumpet and flugel horn.

Aptly named Nick Stringfellow's superb on cello and Milos Milivojevic adds to the air of jauntiness with his accordion playing. Claire Whitson's bass adds great depth, and it seems cruel to not name the rest of the musicians who should all be literally and figuratively applauded. So, here's to Catherine Leech an Alicja Humeniuk on violins and Rose Redgrave on viola.

To be honest, we're delighted the music stays in period without feeling hokey. Often, accompanying music on these occasions is an embarrassing after-thought, but Le Page on the lead violin is as poetic as Hardy's words. It's like a trio between Le Page's violin and Lesser and Bonbright's resonant voices.

As well as his own creative work, Le Page include's arrangements of Gustav Holst, Henry Purcell, Peter Warlock and more in the repertoire. The pacing's good, from slow and romantic, to the kind of tunes you'd expect from a good night out in one of Hardy's books.

The choice of Hardy excerpts is varied and excellent, including of course the tragic scene with Tess and Angel Clare from Tess of the d'Ubervilles at Stonehenge, where Tess sleeps on one of the stones before she's arrested.

We also learn about Hardy's life, including two wives – one of whom, Emma Gifford, is fearless on horseback near the wild Atlantic. He was held to her by a beautiful thread, thus the title of the show. Alas, the marriage soured, with Emma moving to the attic and writing a diary entitled 'What I Think of My Husband'. Hardy burnt it.

After Emma's death, Hardy marries Florence Dugdale, who isn't impressed that he keeps writing love poems about Emma. Hardy believes the poems are the only amends he can make to his first wife.

Other nuggets are Virginia Woolf's father Leslie Stephen publishing Hardy's work in the Cornhill Magazine, Siegfried Sassoon writing to Hardy during World War One to say he carries Hardy's selected poems with him in the trenches, Hollywood actresses begging to star in the film version of Tess of the d'Ubervilles and the Bishop of Wakefield burning a copy of Jude the Obscure, known by angry Christians as Jude the Obscene.

There's something for everyone throughout this delightful performance with a big grey-blue Hardy sky hanging over Salisbury Plain at twilight. We got lucky with the weather of course. Hardy wrote a lot about the weather in this part of the world – "and citizens dream of the south and the west" – so I think he'd appreciate the bundled-up crowd hanging on his every word seamlessly entwined with beautiful music.

A Beautiful Thread: Thomas Hardy In Words And Music tours until October 12 through Hambletts Productions. The Salisbury International Arts Festival runs until June 8, presenting George Eliot In Words and Music, with Hermione Norris and SuRie, on June 6.

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