Rowan Atkinson to bring Mr Bean and Blackadder to West End in Rowan Live

Rowan Atkinson will return to the West End to perform as Mr Bean, Blackadder and other comic characters from across his career in a new show called Rowan Live. The Guardian reported that the production will have a short run of 30 performances and combine famous television sketches with new routines created for the stage.

The show will reunite Atkinson creatively with Richard Curtis, Ben Elton and Howard Goodall and will run at the Gillian Lynne theatre from 8 February to 13 March. Atkinson said it had been 40 years since he last performed a comedy sketch show in the West End and that he wanted to revisit the material that launched his collaboration with Curtis while also presenting “surprise new material written especially for this show”.

Key facts about Rowan Atkinson’s Rowan Live

Detail	What we know
Show	Rowan Live, featuring characters and sketches from Atkinson’s career
Performances	The production will have a short run of 30 performances, according to The Guardian
Dates	It runs from 8 February to 13 March
Venue	The Gillian Lynne theatre in the West End
Characters	The Guardian said the show will include Mr Bean and Blackadder
Creative team	New material involves Richard Curtis, Ben Elton and Howard Goodall
Director	Rowan Live will be directed by Raz Shaw

Rowan Atkinson returns to comedy sketches on stage

Atkinson said the new production would mark four decades since he last performed a comedy sketch show in the West End. The Guardian quoted him saying: “I thought it would be fun to perform again the sketches that began it all for myself and [writer] Richard Curtis, and in which my most well-known characters originated, alongside some surprise new material written especially for this show.”

The production will include famous routines associated with Atkinson’s television career, including material from Not the Nine O’Clock News, as well as newly created work. The Guardian reported that Atkinson and Curtis are collaborating once again with Blackadder writer Ben Elton and composer Howard Goodall.

Atkinson, Curtis and Goodall first created comedy stage shows together while at Oxford University, according to The Guardian. Atkinson then achieved major BBC television success during the 1980s through the satirical Not the Nine O’Clock News and his various incarnations of Edmund Blackadder in the historical comedy series.

His earlier stage career included a one-man West End show in 1981 when he was 26 and another five years later. The Guardian recalled critic Michael Billington’s description of Atkinson during that period as someone who could resemble “a damaged cherub, an establishment smoothy, a country vicar”, while beneath those appearances lay “devilry, anarchy and rage”.

Mr Bean and Blackadder set for West End revival

Mr Bean became another defining role for Atkinson after the character’s television and film success in the 1990s. The Guardian described Bean as an occasionally ingenious and mostly speechless character whose popularity demonstrated Atkinson’s ability in physical comedy and later led to an animated version.

The character’s origins also have a stage connection. According to The Guardian, Atkinson developed Mr Bean on stage during the 1980s before the character reached television. He subsequently included Bean in a live comedy tour and brought him back for the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games in 2012.

Blackadder has also returned in live settings since the original television series. The Guardian reported that Atkinson appeared at the Royal Albert Hall in the Prince’s Trust gala We Are Most Amused in 2012, where a new Blackadder sketch placed the character in the financial crisis as the chief executive of a bank.

Tony Robinson appeared alongside him as Baldrick, this time working as Blackadder’s gardener. At the same gala, Atkinson also revived his routine about a priest who recounts how the miracles of Jesus lead him towards a career as a magician, The Guardian said.

Classic characters and clues to Rowan Live

Promotional material for Rowan Live contains references to several points in Atkinson’s comedy career. The Guardian reported that a dressing-up box pictured for the show contains the priest’s vestments associated with the routine he performed again at the 2012 Prince’s Trust gala.

The same image also includes the mask of a gorilla, which The Guardian identified as a reference to a Not the Nine O’Clock News sketch featuring Atkinson as Gerald the gorilla. In that routine, a professor played by Mel Smith says the animal was “completely wild” when captured for an educational experiment, prompting Gerald to answer: “Wild?” and then: “I was absolutely livid!”

The mixture of familiar objects and established characters reflects a production that will draw directly from Atkinson’s long career while also adding new work. The Guardian said Rowan Live will contain both famous sketches and new routines rather than operating solely as a revival of existing material.

Richard Curtis says Atkinson’s comic talent remains

Curtis said it had been 50 years since he first saw Atkinson performing on stage. The Guardian quoted him saying: “It was instantly clear to all of us that we were watching a unique, once in a lifetime talent.”

During the summer, Curtis and Atkinson began assembling Rowan Live in front of a small audience, according to The Guardian. Curtis said Atkinson’s abilities remained evident during that process, adding: “All that magic, that unique accuracy and comic genius is still there for all to see.”

Curtis said it was a “joy and honour” to help create a show drawing together Atkinson’s voices, physical transformations, facial expressions and characters. He added: “I hope it will make people very happy.”

Atkinson’s stage work has not been limited to sketch comedy. The Guardian reported that he received an Olivier nomination for playing Fagin in Oliver! in 2009 and later appeared as the titular tutor and bachelor in Simon Gray’s Quartermaine’s Terms in 2013.

Where and when Rowan Live will be staged

Rowan Live will be directed by Raz Shaw and staged at the Gillian Lynne theatre from 8 February until 13 March, The Guardian reported. The theatre is currently home to My Neighbour Totoro, which ends on 3 January.

The Guardian placed the production within a wider theatrical trend towards television nostalgia, following stage versions of Fawlty Towers, The Good Life, Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em and Only Fools and Horses.

For Atkinson, however, the production also represents a return to the type of live performance that preceded many of his best-known television roles. His stage collaborations with Curtis and Goodall began at Oxford, while Mr Bean itself was developed in live performance before becoming an international screen character.

Frequently asked questions

When does Rowan Live start in the West End?

The Guardian reported that Rowan Live runs at the Gillian Lynne theatre from 8 February to 13 March. The production will have 30 performances.

Will Mr Bean and Blackadder be in Rowan Live?

Yes. The Guardian reported that Atkinson will perform Mr Bean, Blackadder and other characters from across his career, alongside famous sketches and new material.

Who is working with Rowan Atkinson on Rowan Live?

The Guardian reported that Atkinson is collaborating again with Richard Curtis, Ben Elton and Howard Goodall. The production will be directed by Raz Shaw.