BIRKENHEAD Poet Adrian Henri has inspired a world premiere of a brand new work.

Singer-songwriter and playwright Lizzie Nunnery - fresh from her success at the Everyman last month with her work The Sum - will perform her new collaborative piece at the Unity Theatre next Thursday until Saturday.

The musical work called ‘Horny Handed Tons of Soil’ will see Lizzie perform at the refurbished Unity Theatre alongside musicians Martin Heslop, Martin Smith and her husband Vida Norheim.

The work was originally commissioned by the national poetry organisation ‘Phrased and Confused’ to create a brand new work inspired by Liverpool and in particular Adrian Henri.

Born in Birkenhead in 1932, Adrian came to prominence as a member of the Mersey Sound poets Roger McGough and Brian Patten.

They created the ground-breaking collection The Mersey Sound one of the best-selling poetry anthologies of all time which has been re-issued to mark its 50th anniversary.

Adrian was also an actor, novelist and prolific painter. He lived in Liverpool city centre until his death in 2002.

A Unity Theatre spokesman told the Globe: "The world premiere will explore through spoken word, live music and film what’s been lost and found in the re-sculpting of the Liverpool landscape over the past 50 years.

"It is part of the city-wide ‘50 Summers of Love’ festival before touring a condensed version of the production to venues including St Helens Libraries and London’s South Bank Centre."

The unique production also celebrates a collaboration on Hope Street with the Unity Theatre, Everyman and Royal Philharmonic Hall all presenting work by the Liverpool Poets.

Brian Patten’s The Story Giant was part of the Everyman Rep season and Roger McGough with the ensemble ‘10/10’ will return to the Phil on July 16 after two sold- out performances of his classic work ‘Summer with Monika’

Lizzie told the Globe: "For a long time I’ve been performing live as a musician and incorporating spoken word in to my set.

"But the length of this piece means I’ve been able to go much further in crafting a narrative, drawing together images and themes, sparking off the Mersey Poets renderings of Liverpool.

"It seems fitting that the work of Adrian Henri is the main reference for the piece.

"I’d like to think that he’d approve of the experiment.’’

Horny Handed Tons of Soil. Unity Theatre July 13 to 15 from 8pm.

For tickets call the box office: 0151 709 4988

To hear an exclusive ‘live’ track from the performance go to https://soundcloud.com/unitytheatre/horny-handed-tons-of-soil-excerpt