EXPECTATIONS were high at the Theatre Royal, Bath, last night, as the curtain went up on the revival of Simon Gray’s 1981 play Quartermaine’s Terms, prior to its 12-week West End run.

Needless to say, many were there to see Rowan Atkinson perform in a play for the first time since the 80s; and those who came for this reason were not disappointed.

Atkinson excelled in this rare theatrical outing, doing what he does best; playing a vague, daydreaming, absent minded but essentially kind and witty man.

However, this ‘tragi-comedy’ is not a one-man show, and a supporting cast of extremely talented actors soon drew the audience into scenes where the relationships between the characters - both seen and unseen - is crucial to its appreciation..

Louise Ford, Matthew Cottle, Malcolm Sinclair, Will Keen, Conleth Hill and Felicity Montagu have all paid their dues on stage and screen, with credit due to each and every one for exploring every last facet of their on-stage persona, thanks in so small part to Richard Eyre’s exceptional direction.

The play is set in an English language school for foreign students, based in Cambridge, sometime in the 1960s.

Atkinson takes the role of St John Quartermaine, a useless teacher but great friend to the seven others whose chaotic personal lives just serve to emphasise the emptiness and loneliness of his own, against a backdrop of Cambridge over-achievement. As time passes, the audience sees the interplay between the teachers and how it affects the ineffectual professor.

Watching Quartermaine, who spends much of his time in the staff room’s old leather armchair whilst the rest rush around him, one can’t help but be reminded of Mr Bean, as he sits in silence awkwardly fiddling with his fingers while all hell breaks loose. However, there is no nasty side to this man’s character, just a detached emptiness while all around him there is a great deal of talking and not much listening going on.

This is not a ‘pacey’ plot, and the static set adds to the poignancy of what has to be said is a sad situation. Rowan Atkinson has his character nailed, but do not expect to be rolling in the aisles - with its echoes of Chekhov, Quartermaine’s Terms is not meant to make you laugh; it’s meant to make you think.

Quartermaine’s Terms is at the Theatre Royal, Bath, until Saturday, January 19 (returns only).