Vivian Stanshall’s ‘Sir Henry at Rawlinson End’

Traditionally memoirs are all about claiming all the credit and shamelessly exaggerating about your influence at pivotal points in history. This is a tradition I am reluctant to break. However I have been claiming to have designed a costume for a play. I suppose this is true… although all this essentially involved was picking a few appropriate clothing items from my wardrobe for an actor to wear on stage! In reality Mike ‘Livo’ Livesley, his director, band and crew have put months of hard work into this production! However these are MY memoirs and I am claiming the glory!

George, Emma, Nick, a large group of Flaneurs and I went to see the world premiere of Mike’s play. I had done my homework and listened to the album a few times, and thoroughly loved it! I was ready to politely laugh in all the right places for all the witty puns that I am usually far too slow to understand!

Mike has turned out to be an absolute master of the stage. Vivian Stanshall’s colourful characters were brought to life by Mike’s brilliant voice and physical talent. A magnificent country house set and a dusty and cobwebbed band, Brainwashing House, beautifully recreating the music with traditional and home made instruments. My laughter was genuine and heartfelt! The play was hilarious, it was great to see the album acted on stage, and this helped me understand even more of the double entendres.

George absolutely loved the play too! In fact he was most enthusiastically gushing towards Mike after the performance! George is much better with clever wordplay than me and as a long term fan of the Bonzo Dog Doodah band was well positioned to appreciate the play on a whole different level. Nick got excited about making a spinning post-horn from kitchen utensils reminding me of my homemade clarinet made from a curtain rail! And Emma was planning to rush out and buy the album. I had arranged a later rendezvous with the Flaneurs but spent far too long in the Unity bar afterwards to make it and had to send my apologies by field telephone.

The show has sold out on both nights. Mike told me previously that if the show does well that he will organise a national tour. This looks like an inevitability to me now!

Visit the website for the play here.