Rowan Atkinson returns to the West End after 40 years with “Rowan Live”: Mr Bean and Blackadder at the Gillian Lynne Theatre

Rowan Atkinson, the legendary British comedian known as Mr Bean and Edmund Blackadder, returns to the West End stage with a new comedy show titled “Rowan Live”, as WhatsOnStage reports. The show will be staged at the Gillian Lynne Theatre for a limited run of only 30 performances, from 8 February to 13 March 2027, with the official opening night on 16 February.

According to WhatsOnStage, the show brings together some of the most famous sketches and characters of his career — including Mr Bean, Blackadder and favourites from “Not the Nine O’Clock News”, among them Gerald the gorilla — alongside new material written especially for this production. It is directed by Raz Shaw, with music by Howard Goodall.

For the production, Atkinson has reunited with his long-time collaborators Richard Curtis, Ben Elton and Howard Goodall, Bleeding Cool reports. Atkinson himself said: “It has been forty years since I last performed a comedy sketch show in the West End, and I thought it would be a pleasure to perform again the sketches with which it all began for me and Richard Curtis, in which my best-known characters were born; alongside surprise new material written especially for this show.”

Curtis, who first saw Atkinson on stage in 1976, said: “It was immediately clear to all of us that we were watching a unique talent, one that happens once in a lifetime… This show will include the best of Rowan on stage — all his voices, shapes, faces and characters.”

“Rowan Live” is presented by Playful Productions in association with PBJ Management. Priority tickets go on sale on 7 October at 9:00, while the public sale starts at noon, according to WhatsOnStage.