Tickets went on sale on Friday for a one-off London performance of Pete Townshend's play about a futuristic world, Lifehouse.

The Who guitarist first wrote Lifehouse in 1971, in between work on the rock opera Tommy and his later project, Quadrophenia.

The production, originally conceived as a film and interactive event is about a vast global network called a "grid", not unlike the internet. in.

But after experiments at the Old Vic theatre in London, he abandoned it after he felt it demanded too much "creative feedback".

But Townshend revived it for a performance on BBC Radio 3 in December 1999.

Lifehouse's story addresses the spiritual consequences of a move away from a physical human contact towards digital networking and the power of music.

It describes the apocalyptic journey of the central character Ray across the industrial wastes of Britain on 31 December 1999 as he searches for his missing daughter.

Eventually he heads back to the city where he was born, magnetised by the voice of a pirate DJ calling the like-minded and lost to the Lifehouse - a subversive music event.

Townshend said he had been inspired to write Lifehouse in the late 1960s when he became wary of a growing tension between entertainment and commerce.

"In the midst of this uneasy anticipation, I wrote a play. If, in the future, life itself ever had to be experienced through art - let's say because of a necessary curfew to avoid the effects of radiation or pollution - a vast global network would be required," he explained.

He said he had gone on to ask himself: "Would rock have a place or not? Was rock's particular brand of spiritual uplift - its main claim to be regarded as art - confined to live events before masses of people?"

Lifehouse is described as more like a play with music than a rock opera.

It includes several Who songs such as Won't Get Fooled Again, Baba O'Riley and Behind Blue Eyes, which were originally intended for Lifehouse.

There are also previously unheard songs written and performed by Townshend.

The performance takes place on 25 February 2000 at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London.