The Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds will reopen on 11 September following a two-year restoration.

The UK’s only fully operational surviving Regency theatre has been extensively renovated, according to a design based on the original theatre, by research period architects Levitt Bernstein, in collaboration with theatre staff and the National Trust.

A new, separate wing will house bars, toilets and other visitor facilities.

The project received £5.1m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Trust, Arts Council England, St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Suffolk County Council.

Judith Shallow, chair of the Board of Directors: “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.”

The new season will kick off with a production of a Georgian nautical melodrama called Black Ey’d Susan by Douglas Jerrold.