made by the architect Bertie Crewe. Greene King, the local brewery, purchased the freehold, which it still owns, in 1920. However, in 1925, in the face of overwhelming competition from two new cinemas, the theatre closed once more. Greene King had struggled to keep the theatre operating and was content to use the building as a barrel store. So it remained until the 1960s when a group of local people led by Air Vice Marshal Stanley Vincent raised over £37,000 to restore and re-open the theatre in 1965. The building was vested in the National Trust in 1975 on a 999-year lease. The Theatre Royal is now managed as an independent working theatre by the Bury St Edmunds Theatre Management Limited. 2000s restoration In September 2005 the Theatre was closed to begin a £5.3million restoration project to restore the building to its original 1819 configuration and decorative scheme. Following an extensive research period, architects Levitt Bernstein, in collaboration with theatre staff and the National Trust, drew up plans to restore the historic building to as close to its original design as possible. Previous restorations to the building had removed the original Georgian entrances to the pit as well as its distinctive Georgian forestage. The boxes had also been removed from the dress circle and the seating layout changed throughout the building. The project restored these aspects to recreate a theatre which could provide further insight into the architecture, stage techniques and repertoire of the 18th and 19th centuries, of which little is known in comparison to theatre of other epochs. In addition to the restoration of the building the theatre's artistic team researched and re-discovered many of the lost texts of the Georgian repertoire. Under the banner of "Restoring the Repertoire" the Theatre Royal produced some of plays of the Georgian period in the now restored building. On 11 September 2007 the theatre re-opened with a production of the 1829 nautical melodrama, Black-Eyed Susan, written by Douglas Jerrold. In addition to the restoration of the main building a new, modern foyer was constructed to the side of the theatre to provide catering facilities, an additional bar and more toilets for the building. References External links Theatre Royal information at the National Trust A 360 degree tour of the pre-Sept 2007 auditorium Grade I listed buildings in Suffolk Grade I listed theatres National Trust properties in Suffolk Bury St Edmunds Theatres