Vivian Stanshall's Sir Henry at Rawlinson End sets June date for Unity

Vivian Stanshall's cult LP is brought to life by Mike Livesley in this stage production of the legendary Sir Henry at Rawlinson End.

Great Aunt Florrie, Scrotum the wrinkled retainer, and heroically drunk Sir Henry: – these are just some of the grotesques from ‘Sir Henry at Rawlinson End’, the meisterwerk of the late, great Vivian Stanshall. This entire world is recreated by Michael Livesley, and his band ‘Brainwashing House’ in this stage adaptation.

Vivian Stanshall was born Victor Anthony Stanshall on 21 March 1943. In 1961 he enrolled at the Central School of Art in London. It was here that Vivian and his fellow students, including Rodney Slater, Roger Ruskin Spear and Neil Innes came together to form a band which would eventually become known as ‘The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’.

During the 1970’s Vivian recorded numerous sessions for BBC Radio 1's John Peel show which elaborated, with eloquence and irreverence, the surreal and bizarre goings on at the crumbling stately home Rawlinson End and the grotesques which inhabit it’s environs Ultimately, several of these were compiled and edited by Vivian to compile an LP and, in 1978,

The tracks feature at least one vocal number, intermingled with spoken word performances by Vivian as both narrator and the many and various Rawlinson-related characters. The LP has been hugely influential on all comedy that has followed in its wake, most notably in the work of Stephen Fry and the alternative British comedy boom of the 80s.

Vivian was found dead on 6 March 1995, after a fire at his Muswell Hill flat; coincidentally, this was one hundred years to the day after the death of (the original) Sir Henry Rawlinson.

Michael Livesley is a Haydock-born actor, writer, singer and musician who has been actively creating and performing his own work for the last 20 years. He has also performed in numerous short films. In summer 2009 percussionist Jonny Hase played the 'Sir Henry at Rawlinson End' LP to Mike and he began to check show listings nationwide for someone who was performing this piece. After many fruitless searches it became clear that no-one was doing it and, in stunned shock, he determined to perform it himself.

Vivian Stanshall's Sir Henry at Rawlinson End is at the Liverpool Unity on 18 June.