Theatre Royal launches emergency appeal

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The Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds has launched an emergency appeal to enable it to reopen when the coronavirus lockdown eases.

The Theatre, which is currently closed, has lost almost all of its income whilst it is closed during the pandemic and, like many entertainment venues, is fighting for it’s survival.

It has launched “The Show Will Go On!” campaign with a target of £50,000 to allow it to begin preparations to reopen They have received crucial public authority funding from Suffolk County Council and West Suffolk Councils, but this makes up a small percentage of what is needed to survive. The Theatre Royal also received an Arts Council Emergency Response Grant to help which they say “as provided them with “some breathing space” but they need to “build a bigger pot to raise the essential funds to start to re-open when lockdown eases”.

The Theatre says that reopening is not straightforward – they need time and money to programme and promote the season; for their own shows they need to cast and rehearse, shows – their income will not simply leap back to what is what before the crisis.
 
Roger Quince, Chairman of Theatre Royal Board of Trustees said “The return to normality is likely to be a long journey – please support this campaign to ensure that our much-loved Theatre will be in a position to come out of this long dark period as strong as ever. With your help we can start to put plans in place to re-open our doors once again.”

You can find the appeal at https://www.theatreroyal.org/support-us/patrons/