The Stage

Theatre Royal Bury pledges to reopen as ‘Georgian Globe’

Published Tuesday 16 January 2007 at 11:45 by Shona Collins

Britain’s only surviving operational Regency theatre has announced its intention to do for Georgian drama what Shakespeare’s Globe has done for Elizabethan playwriting.

Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds will reopen this September with a programme focused on 19th century theatre, following a two-year restoration. Alongside the £5.1 million conservation and renewal project, artistic director Colin Blumenau has unearthed plays from the Georgian repertoire in an attempt to unify the building and the work it produces. The inaugural season, entitled Restoring the Repertoire, opens with Black Ey’d Susan, written by Douglas Jerrold in 1829.

“The Georgian period really is the black hole of dramatic history in this country,” Blumenau explained. “It is not difficult to trace drama’s timeline from Ancient Greece right through to the English Restoration. Thereafter there is a sizeable gap until we discover the work of Wilde and his contemporaries which leads on to the proliferation of 20th century drama.

“It is the existence of this black hole which makes our building so special. The Theatre Royal is the only Regency theatre left standing in this country. Once the building is restored we will at last be able to present the repertoire of the period in a way it was always intended to be presented. This is what is so important about the Theatre Royal.”

The programme to repair the theatre to its original state has closed the auditorium’s doors for the past two years. One of only eight Grade I listed theatres in England, the venue has received support from a range of high profile actors and directors. Judi Dench has said the theatre will ensure the survival of a vital part of Britain’s theatrical heritage, while appeal president Peter Hall calls the Georgian building “even more precious than we think”.

Patron Stephen Fry said of the venture: “I am absolutely thrilled by the proposals to rediscover a repertoire of plays which has too long been absent from English stages.”

Chair of the board of directors Judith Shallow added: “Our belief in the importance of this extraordinary building has been completely vindicated by the massive and overwhelming support for the restoration and development of new facilities at the Theatre Royal. The fact that what some would consider to be a small, regional theatre can command this level of support and enthusiasm speaks volumes for its significance historically, artistically and in so many people’s hearts and minds.”

From September 11 the Georgian repertoire will run alongside a programme of contemporary works. An international co-production with the German Goethe Theater of Purcell’s King Arthur will feature in the opening season beside work from Hull Truck, Northern Broadsides, Ballet Ireland and others to be announced.

Factfile:

• Theatre Royal was built in 1819 by William Wilkins, the architect of the National Gallery
• It is the sole, surviving working theatre from the Regency period in the UK
• The venue originally had room for audiences of up to 800, it now has a capacity of 360
• Total cost of the restoration is £5.1 million, and it remains on schedule and to budget