Michael Livesley has announced two new performances of Vivian Stanshall's Sir Henry At Rawlinson's End to celebrate the work's 40th Anniversary.
Livesley and band will perform the work at London's Bloomsbury Theatre on December 7 and at Liverpool's Philharmonic Music Room on December 12.
"The question which I am asked most often is how to describe the show," Livesley told Prog. "I think a combination of Downton Abbey and Gormenghast set to music is probably accurate. We decided to bring the show out of retirement because this December marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Sir Henry and the show that Vivian himself did in London to launch at the LSE Old Theatre. We initially wanted to do it there but we found that nowadays the theatre is only used for talks by the likes of Goldman Sachs. Plus, horror of horrors, it no longer has a bar. I feel we may have roused the ghost of Humbert Rawlinson himself if 'horizontal lubricant' was unavailable at the show. Happily we have some members of the band which played that show 40 years ago, including himself, Andy Roberts, plus a scattering of Bonzos, led by the avuncular 'Lord' Rodney Slater and featuring John 'Barry Wom' Halsey thumping his tubs and Viv's favourite violinist, The Mekons' Lady Susie Honeyman providing violin flourishes."
Stanshall's recording of Sir Henry... was released in 1978, created from instalments recorded for John Peel'sRadio One show that began in 1975. It was later turned into a film with Trevor Howard in the title role.
It was revived by Liverpool actor and musician in 2010 and toured nationally. Tickets for the new London show are available here. And for the Liverpool show, here.
