26 May
Words and music are wonderfully entwined in this powerful evocation of the life and work of Thomas Hardy. Nine musicians and two fine actors conjure the spirit of this troubled man, who lived in his imagination and gave us some of the most beloved and memorable characters in English fiction.
Writer Deirdre Shields has drawn on the novels, poems, letters and contemporary biographical notes, working with composer/violinist David Le Page to weave a wondrous tapestry of sound. The onstage musicians from the Orchestra of the Swan are superb, filling the stage against a simple starlit backdrop, playing a combination of traditional folk tunes, original compositions by Le Page and well-known works by native composers, Purcell, Bridge, Holst and Warlock.
The show’s principal attraction must be Anton Lesser’s Hardy. As expected, he perfectly inhabits the role with his slightly shambling physical strength, the intensity of his gaze, the power and variety of his vocal inflection. He is brilliantly matched by newcomer Lucia Bonbright who leaps effortlessly between the two wives, Emma and Florence, and the great archetypal heroines. Like Tess, like Bathsheba, she is striking, graceful and bold, with a singing voice to bring the house down.
If the production has one shortcoming, it is over-amplification. Sadly, this affects Lesser more than anyone else. He is an actor whose words can fill the largest of theatres, whose diction cannot be faulted, who comes from a generation when voice alone was enough. But close to a microphone, possibly over-projecting, some of the detail of Hardy’s rich and complex language is lost. This is less of a problem with Bonbright. The female voice is lighter, and her multiple roles offer shorter more direct lines, less introspection, less description,
The show memorably resurrects some of the striking dramatic scenes from the novels: Gabriel’s first sight of Bathsheba lying back on her horse, eyes to the sky, Sergeant Troy slicing the air around her in one of the strangest seduction scenes in literature, Gabriel’s confession that he will be forever linked to Bathsheba by ‘a beautiful thread’, or the poignant moment when Angel Clare witnesses the hanging of his wife, Tess. There are snippets of humour: Hardy’s acerbic comments on his critics, locking away his fierce dog during a visit from the Prince of Wales, or George Bernard Shaw and Rudyard Kipling struggling with the coffin in Westminster Abbey. But above all there is the sense of the tragedy and beauty which suffuses the writings, and more specifically of the sacrifice of magnanimous women to flawed men which has struck such a chord with generations of readers.
The production by Hambletts and directed by Judy Reaves was in Oxford for one night only and is currently on tour in the West Country. Technical flaws aside, this is one of those shows that lingers in the memory. Audience members who already love Hardy’s work will be reminded of his genius and inspired to return to his writing. Those unfamiliar with the novels and poetry will surely be encouraged to give them the time they deserve.
★★★★☆ Ros Carne, 27 May 2026
