Milton Keynes theatre will now not re-open until mid-October

It was hoped that theatres all over the UK could open again this month, but the government delayed on easing lockdown restrictions amid warnings that Covid-19 infections may be growing again.

MK Theatre is part of the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) and today the group issued a statement saying all performances would be suspended at all its venues until Sunday October 18.

Anybody who has made a booking for a performance in the meantime will be contacted, and their booking will be rescheduled if possible.

ATG's statement reads: "Unfortunately, as a result of ongoing social distancing restrictions, we have now suspended all performances at our UK venues until Sunday 18 October 2020. Weapologise for the inconvenience caused but hope you understand given the exceptional circumstances."

It adds: "If you have made a booking that is affected by this suspension, you do not need to do anything. We are currently contacting customers whose original tickets were for performances up to 20 September. Customers booked for performances between 21 September and 4 October will be contacted in the week commencing 24 August. And customers booked for remaining performances will be contacted in the week commencing 7 September.

"Bookings for performances with confirmed rescheduled dates will be automatically moved to the new dates and customers will be informed accordingly. We are working with producers to reschedule as many postponed shows as possible so please do bear with us. Full credit vouchers which are valid until 31 December 2021 and including all fees, or refunds, are available for all cancelled shows."

Over the last few months, ATG teams up and down the country have successfully rescheduled more than 15,000 separate performances plays, musicals, comedy and live music.

The statement said: "Throughout 2021 we have a wonderful array of productions on sale, everything from The Addams Family to Derren Brown: Showman, Waitress to Looking Good Dead, and School of Rock to My Best Friend’s Wedding. Please book with confidence knowing that if there are any further suspensions, your new tickets will remain fully valid for further exchanges or refunds."

It added: "On behalf of all our staff, backstage crews, front of house teams, actors, dancers, musicians, and the entire British theatre industry we want to thank you for your support and understanding as we work together to ensure the future success of our industry. All of us at ATG are enormously proud to be a small part of British theatre, renowned as the greatest in the world. The arts has inspired, educated, entertained and enriched the lives of audiences for hundreds of years but has never been challenged like this. With your ongoing commitment we believe we can come back faster and stronger than ever before.

"As you can imagine, we have a large number of customers that we are assisting, so we ask that you please bear with us. Your patience is greatly appreciated at this time."