Dates: 1819 – present
The Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds is the last surviving Regency playhouse in the country.
Official website: https://www.theatreroyal.org
The theatre was closed in 1926 and used for 33 years as a barrel store by the Greene King brewery, who owned the land on which the theatre was built.
In 1959 a group from the town formed to try to get the venue reopened.
Equipment
1971 (from The Stage Guide)
Electrics: Strand LC Switchboard in Gallery. Dimmers – 48 (2kW and 3kW); 2 presets; 6 groups. Circuits – 18 round Gallery FOH; Flies 20; Stage dips 10. Socket type – 15A BESA. Total capacity available – 76kVA on 3 phases. Special effects supply – none. No followspots. No foot lights, although ground row available.
Sound: No permanent installation.
Later equipment included a Strand 120 way Threeset with Thyristor dimmers.
Ian Callander recalls ‘The response time of the thyristor meant that ‘snap’ cues became a 1-2 second fade’.
