Netflix star visits Stroud pub to celebrate Laurie Lee

Anton Lesser, best known for his roles in Game of Thrones, The Crown and Wolf Hall, came to The Woolpack last week to prepare for his performance commemorating the 25th anniversary.of Lee's death. 

“I can’t get over how green and beautiful Slad is,” he said.

“It has been a joy to discover more of Laurie Lee’s sublime writing for this role.

“We are all really looking forward to celebrating him in what will be a wonderful feast of words and music.”

The event As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning will celebrate Lee’s writing with words from Anton and the cast at a venue near Stow-on-the-Wold. 

Judy Reaves, the artistic director of the Cotswolds Amphitheatre, said: “Everyone loves Cider With Rosie, and show follows Laurie Lee through Cider and his other books, as he walks out of the Slad valley one midsummer morning to walk to Spain, and ends up fighting in the Spanish Civil War. 

“Laurie Lee can be very funny and very heartbreaking, and this event really captures that.

“We were delighted when Jessy Lee, Laurie Lee’s daughter, got in touch. 

“She has been incredibly supportive, and is really excited that her father’s writing is being celebrated in our beautiful green Amphitheatre!” 

David LePage, director of the Orchestra of the Swan said: “Laurie Lee was a fine natural musician, and he was intensely proud of Gloucestershire’s rich musical heritage such as Gustav Holst, Elgar, and Vaughan Williams.”

“I have been tracking down Gloucestershire folk songs, and it has been fascinating, moving from English pastoral music to Spanish rhythms, as Lee’s story darkens with the coming of the Spanish Civil War.

“In many ways, it is a haunting, and very moving, echo of what is playing out now in Europe.”

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning will be performed at a new Cotswolds performing arts venue, Cotswolds Amphitheatre, in Upper Oddington on Friday, July 22 at 7.30pm.
For more information visit: www.amphitheatreberrybankpark.co.uk