Applause, applause
EADT Suffolk|January 2020
Bury’s Theatre Royal, the only Regency theatre in the UK, is a hidden attraction that deserves to have its name up in lights
Lindsay Want
Applause, applause
If you’re in love with the architecturally awesome, Suffolk sees you spoilt for choice. From Lavenham’s half-timbered Corpus Christi Guildhall to redbrick Melford Hall, the National Trust’s local portfolio alone provides some pretty impressive visiting.

But there’s one place technically in its care which always seems upstaged by the likes of Ickworth House and looked down upon by the millennium tower of St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

The Theatre Royal at Bury St Edmunds keeps a low profile beneath the town-centre buildings of Greene King brewery, and may be nothing much to look at from the outside as you weave your way around the curves of Westgate Street.

But step into the original Georgian foyer. Treat yourself to a ticket for a performance. Above all, book a place on one of its regular guided tours.

Once you’re through the door to the auditorium, this place will blow you away. . . although perhaps not in quite the same way as it would have done, had you found yourself suddenly catapulted back in time to jostle through its doors in the 1820s.

“Take a whiff of these,” invites dapper gentleman guide Rory O’Brien, with a certain thespian flourish, offering up an array of coloured- glass potion bottles to members of his unsuspecting audience.

There’s an exchange of suspicious glances, as stoppers are gingerly removed. Then a whole cast of grins and grimaces as various distillations of Eau de Regency Theatre release their unexpected aromas up supersensitive 21st-century nostrils.

“Ah, I see you got the manure one,” smiles Rory, looking at the lady who has reached for her hankie. One by one, raised hands own up to nasal passage experiences ranging from waft of tallow candle or pipe smoke, to zesty oranges, sooty fires, oil lamps and unclean bodies.

Denne historien er fra January 2020-utgaven av EADT Suffolk.

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Denne historien er fra January 2020-utgaven av EADT Suffolk.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA EADT SUFFOLKSe alt
‘Look at me!'
EADT Suffolk

‘Look at me!'

Jan planned a modest start to 2020. It’s not going well.

time-read
3 mins  |
January 2020
Treasure Island
EADT Suffolk

Treasure Island

Lindsay Want goes on a walking adventure around Somerleyton on the ancient island of Lothingland

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4 mins  |
January 2020
New beginnings
EADT Suffolk

New beginnings

In the bleak, dark days at the start of the year, life stirs

time-read
2 mins  |
January 2020
In black & white
EADT Suffolk

In black & white

Felix Aldred follows the fortunes of a family of oystercatchers on a Suffolk river estuary

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3 mins  |
January 2020
Hot dates
EADT Suffolk

Hot dates

Mark your calendar for some important milestone events in 2020

time-read
3 mins  |
January 2020
Applause, applause
EADT Suffolk

Applause, applause

Bury’s Theatre Royal, the only Regency theatre in the UK, is a hidden attraction that deserves to have its name up in lights

time-read
5 mins  |
January 2020
2020 vision
EADT Suffolk

2020 vision

With the New Year upon us, heralding opportunities for change and renewal, we asked some of Suffolk’s leading lights about their hopes for the county and their personal ambitions for the coming months.

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9 mins  |
January 2020
Dreaming Of A White Christmas
EADT Suffolk

Dreaming Of A White Christmas

Maxine White and Ady White (not related) make Christmas happen. They’re possibly Suffolk’s closest thing to Santa’s elves.

time-read
8 mins  |
December 2019
Food From The Heart
EADT Suffolk

Food From The Heart

It’s ten years since Justin Sharp opened Pea Porridge in Bury St Edmunds. He’s still proudly delighting customers with simple, satisfying seasonal food, brimful of flavour

time-read
5 mins  |
December 2019
An All Together English Walk
EADT Suffolk

An All Together English Walk

Lindsay Want takes a seasonal family stroll around the parklands of Huntingfield and Heveningham

time-read
4 mins  |
December 2019