History
Oddments Theatre Company is now an established Christian theatre company but started with just a small group of young people with a heart to perform…
In the Beginning…
Oddments Theatre Company was born when a small group of young people were asked to perform in a church service. They enjoyed it so much that they started writing their own sketches to perform more regularly. Over the years they continued to create and perform work, until it went live in the mid-80s when a company bank account was opened with a deposit of just £1.
Oddments continued to develop and Barry Boyton, our founder, started to raise funds so he could work with the group part time. They began to travel further afield… at one point managing to close the whole M5! On 18th September 2004, Oddments became a charity, enabling them to receive gift aid donations to expand their work.
Starting Work in Prisons…
Our prison work began completely by accident! Whilst planning a show, a letter was accidentally sent to the chaplain at Portland Prison. He sent a very kind reply, apologising that, for obvious reasons, his congregation wouldn’t be able to attend the performance, and invited them to come and perform in the prison. The group anxiously accepted the invitation. The rest is history, and very much part of God’s plan – perhaps not a complete accident afterall! Our prison work is now a large part of our mission and very important to our team.
A Full-Time Team…
Oddments became a full-time gig in 2010, and the first full time team was established. The situation looked very bleak when, initially, nobody applied. After a lot of prayer and advertisement, applications began to trickle in. Five people really stood out as the ideal candidates, and they became the team! A house was bought for them to live in, they moved in in September and started work in the newly built office. Our work at Oddments continued to develop; as one intern team handed over to the next, our sketch shows turned into full length plays and our performances stretched further across the UK.
Where are we now?
With over four decades of work, hard-working teams and God’s great blessing, Oddments continues to reach churches, schools and prisons across the UK. We have multiple full-length, adapted and children’s shows under our belt, as well as sketches and even a few songs! We are reaching new prisons all the time, with books as well as performances, and are expanding beyond what anyone could have expected from a group of twenty-somethings back in 1981!
You can find out a bit about our current team here, and what productions we are running here. We also have a News and Prayer page for latest updates – or follow us on Social Media to see what we’re up to! (@OddmentsTheatre)