It’s #LoveMK Day – here’s what we love about Milton Keynes

Thursday 1st May 2025 marks the 13th #LoveMK Day. A day where we share what we love about Milton Keynes on our social channels and celebrate with others the wonderful elements that make up this great city in which we live and work.

#LoveMK Day was the brainchild of Destination Milton Keynes (DMK), the official tourism organisation for the city. You can find out more about it here and how you can join in the fun. 

For us at The Play’s The Thing, we #LoveMK for the theatre and arts scene. It is filled with fantastic local talent, theatre-makers, playwrights, the next generation of theatre, excellent venues, opportunities and more.

While national and regional theatres play an important role, it’s the small, local, and community theatres that are the true lifeblood of our cultural scene. It is these local actors, writers, students and venues that we like to work with to not only help elevate their profiles but also support the cultural future of Milton Keynes and beyond.

We believe that the arts are still very much up and coming in MK, with a way to go for our industry to get the recognition and funding that we deserve.

The Play’s The Thing has been bringing live professional and community theatre to local stages since 2008. We focus on interesting, entertaining and thought-provoking plays, including ‘Not A Game For Girls’ by Benjamin Peel, ‘The Seagull’ by Anton Chekhov, ‘Abigail’s Party’ by Mike Leigh, ‘Entertaining Mr Sloane’ by Joe Orton, plus our latest production of ‘A Taste of Honey’ by Shelagh Delaney that comes to Stantonbury Theatre from 14th to 17th May.

We have supported over 40 female playwrights by showcasing new writing on various stages, including our ‘Taking The Stage’ festivals. We also work with local young people from MK College, MK Theatre Creative Learning, and our own Creative Youth Board to give them opportunities, such as acting and technical work within our community theatre company, Pepper’s Ghost, and our festivals.

 We have also worked with hundreds of local actors and crew members on various productions and projects, providing exciting paid work and other opportunities.

There are many fantastic local theatre and arts venues to choose from.  We primarily work with Stantonbury Theatre, York House Centre, and MK Gallery to stage our performances and festivals. We’ve also worked alongside arts organisations, such as Offset Projects to carry out important industry research, Arts and Heritage Alliance MK and MK Community Foundation.

We have achieved a great deal, but it hasn’t been easy. We’ve worked incredibly hard to get funding through various means and have been successful, but we also know some who haven’t been so lucky. Without funding for the smaller theatre companies, their shows cannot go on, which means we are missing out on some fantastic productions and local talent. 

In any city or community, the arts are the heartbeat. They bring stories to life, spark imagination, and create spaces where people of all backgrounds can join together. That’s why it’s so important for us to not only celebrate our own work, but to celebrate other theatres companies and artists.

We have some great theatre, arts and opportunities coming to Milton Keynes this season that we all need to shout about, including our next show ‘A Taste of Honey’ at Stantonbury Theatre from 14th to 17th May, Midsummer Festival on 22nd June, Milton Keynes Fringe Festival from 4th to 27th July, IF: Milton Keynes International Festival from 18th to 27th July, to name but a few.

Look at what we can do when we support each other, we build a richer arts scene. We can reach new audiences, nurture talent, new voices and new ideas, and keep the arts alive and evolving. The more we collaborate and shout about the incredible creativity and innovation in our industry and community, the more the arts will grow and thrive.

So, let’s keep the conversation going. It is our objective to continue providing these great opportunities and create an infrastructure in our community that will keep the local arts heartbeat going strong, and help to create a more accessible, inclusive and vibrant arts scene.

Tell us what you love about the arts in Milton Keynes!