Rowan Atkinson returns to West End after 40 years

British actor Rowan Atkinson will return to London’s West End next year with a comedy sketch show, marking his first West End comedy performance in 40 years and his return to the stage after more than a decade, according to DPA and PA Media.

The 71-year-old actor will take to the stage at London’s Gillian Lynne Theatre in a production combining new material with some of his most famous sketches and characters, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.

Atkinson rose to fame through the BBC sketch show “Not the Nine O’Clock News” in the late 1970s before starring in the historical comedy series “Blackadder” during the 1980s.

He gained international recognition in the 1990s with the television series “Mr Bean,” in which he played the chaotic, largely silent and childlike title character.

Atkinson will revisit some of his best-known comedy characters in “Rowan Live,” alongside new material created with his longtime collaborators, screenwriter Richard Curtis, comedian Ben Elton and composer Howard Goodall.

“It’s been 40 years since I last did a comedy show in the West End, and it seemed like fun to perform again the sketches that made Richard Curtis and me known and from which my best-known characters originated, alongside some surprise material written especially for this show,” Atkinson said.

“Rowan Live,” described as a celebration of Atkinson’s “extraordinary body of work,” will run for 30 performances at the London theatre from February 8 to March 13, 2027.

The production will mark Atkinson’s return to the stage following his role in the 2013 revival of Simon Gray’s “Quartermaine’s Terms.”

Tickets are due to go on sale on October 7 through the Rowan Live website.

Photo: westendtheatre.com