First play in 25 years

Rowan Atkinson is to return to the West End next year, his first appearance in a play for almost 25 years.

He will star as the titular character St. John Quartermaine in the new production of Simon Gray’s 1982 tragicomedy, Quartermaine’s Terms.

Set in the 1960s, in a Cambridge-based English language school for foreigners, the play is an account of two years in the lives of seven teachers, with a dominant theme of loneliness.

At the heart of the group is Quartermaine, described as ‘kind, pleasant and agreeable, but utterly hopeless as a teacher’.

Atkinson first appeared in the West End in 1981 in his one-man show and subsequently in The New Revue, The Nerd, The Sneeze. He recently played Fagin in the revival of Oliver!, but this is his first play in more than two decades.

The new production, which will be directed by former National Theatre boss Richard Eyre, will play the Theatre Royal Brighton and the Theatre Royal Bath in early January, before opening at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre.

Further cast members are yet to be announced.

Published: 8 Jun 2012