The company, which had a history going back to 1948, opened its first season in the new theatre with My Fair Lady, followed by Hamlet and concluding the following summer with Alan Bates in The Seagull.

[5] The theatre launched a fundraising campaign to help with restoration costs, and the main auditorium seating and carpets were refurbished in August 2012 in time for the autumn season.

The rehearsal spaces were opened in December 2012 by the theatre's newly appointed artistic director, Sarah Brigham; general manager, Gary Johnson; and vice-chancellor of the University of Derby, John Coyne.

[8] In October 2021 it was announced that Derby City Council was considering plans for the theatre to move to new premises on the site of former concert venue the Assembly Rooms, which had been out of action since a fire in 2014.

[16] The first production commissioned and produced by the theatre under the artistic directorship of Sarah Brigham was Lee Hall's Cooking with Elvis which was directed by Mark Babych in May 2013.

Visiting productions included Go Back for Murder and September in the Rain and a co-production with the Mercury Theatre, Colchester of The Opinion Makers by Brian Mitchell and Joseph Nixon.

The author Terry Deary attended the first preview performance, signed copies of his books and launched the Derby citywide Plus One scheme.