The new Marlowe Theatre has contributed nearly £50million to the county's economy since it opened two years ago.

The venue announced it has seen audience figures jump 5.6% in the last year from 332,372 to 350,920.

Friday marks the new Marlowe's second anniversary, with figures showing average attendance was also up from 710 to 895 per performance in the main house in its second year.

The theatre contributed £24.34 million for the city's economy over the last 12 months, calculated using the academic Shellard formula.

This is 84.4% more than in the old theatre, which generated £13.2m in 2008/09, and nearly 8% more than was predicted in the theatre's business plan.

Yet there will be a small cloud over the celebrations as the venue marks its second anniversary on Friday, October 4.

Kay Mellor's drama A Passionate Woman was due to be performed during the birthday week but was cancelled after its star, Loose Women panellist Lynda Bellingham, announced she had been diagnosed with cancer.

There will be a staff tea party to mark the occasion but the venue will be "dark" for the night, to use a theatre term.

Theatre director Mark Everett says one of the key statistics is the performance of the main auditorium, which drew 333,646 spectators in 2012/2013, compared with 318,767 in the first year.

He said: "A theatre like this survives or falls on the success of its main house programming. For all the other things we want to do, we have to remember the driver is the main house.

"We are one of the best attended theatres in the country, and we will keep our breadth of programming. A lot of it is decidedly populist, and lots of people coming in just want a good night of entertainment."

The most popular show was Dirty Dancing The Musical, which became the biggest touring production to ever visit Canterbury. More than 26,000 people saw it in April.

Canterbury city council leader Cllr John Gilbey said: "The numbers speak for themselves.

"The Marlowe Theatre is truly living up to and exceeding all of our expectations.

"As well as bringing enjoyment to thousands of people, its importance in supporting our local economy and businesses as well as providing much needed jobs demonstrates how right the decision was for the council and many others to invest in this wonderful venue.

"I am confident that its success will grow and grow."