Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds is the third oldest working theatre in the country, the only surviving Regency playhouse and last year celebrated its 200th anniversary.  We are a Registered Charity (Charity Number 242977)

For 200 years Theatre Royal has brought joy to the town of Bury St Edmunds by bringing the best live theatre to our stage. It brings significant income into our local economy.

We aim to inspire young people, to give local people a voice, to serve our community and to reach out to marginalised groups for whom theatre and the arts may otherwise be inaccessible. In order to help us to deliver all of this we support and nurture a brilliant ecology of freelance artists: writers, producers, set designers, technicians, actors to name but a few.  

We offer a programme of theatre productions made in Bury St Edmunds, including our own produced pantomime alongside a wide range of drama, music and dance from visiting companies. Our diverse programme reaches an average annual audience of 85,000.

How we are funded

We receive crucial public authority funding from Suffolk County Council and West Suffolk Councils, but this makes up a small percentage of what we need to operate. We are very fortunate to have ongoing and loyal support from our Patrons, Friends, Major Donors and Corporate Sponsors – without whom (even in normal times) we simply could not survive.

During the Covid crisis we received an Arts Council Emergency Grant and a share of the DCMS Culture Recovery Fund to help us through this challenging time and we raised in excess of £70, 000 through a community appeal – The Show Will Go On! 

In ‘normal’ times:

51% of our income comes through ticket sales and what we present on our stage (almost 25% of our total annual income comes from our annual Pantomime alone)

16% of our income comes from our core funding grants from Suffolk County Council and West Suffolk Council

9% of our income comes from the sale of drinks, sweets and ice creams!

7% of our income comes through financial recoveries and Tax Credit

This leaves 17% of our annual income to come through fundraising – that is private sector support. The Development Department raises this through: Memberships (our Patrons, Donor Friends and Friends schemes), Major Donations, Fundraising Events, Corporate Sponsorship and applications to Trusts and Foundations. On top of this annual requirement for core funding, we also raise money for projects to support our community and engagement work and education programmes.

For more information on how you can support Theatre Royal please contact [email protected]