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“I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me” – Mathew 25:36

What We Do

Oddments has been working in conjunction with prison chaplains for over 20 years, taking the Christian message into prisons such as Guys Marsh, Erlestoke & Leyhill, free-of-charge. For many inmates, watching our performance is their first exposure to the message in many years, for some the first ever. We believe that the prisons are the most rewarding places to perform as the inmates are often very open to the life changing word. Each outreach is carefully organised with the chaplain, and in many of the performances we are able to talk and pray with the inmates afterwards. We work in all category prisons and have performed in over 30 prisons over the years. We are always looking to expand our prison circuit.

During Covid-19 lockdowns, we were able to send Drama DVDs- a 30min program of different sketches based on parables and gospel stories- and Christian books to prisons across the South of England, so that inmates could enjoy them from their chapel library.

We are now taking/sending daily devotional books into prisons we work with – bought and signed by members of the public. If you’d like to buy a book for an inmate, you can find out more here.

Sketch Shows

We take a collection of sketches into prisons, including modern re-tellings of Biblical parables and stories about forgiveness and guilt. We use a range of performance styles, from song to mime to storytelling so that each inmate has something they can connect to.

‘For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life… nor things present, nor things to come… shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ – Romans 8:38-39

Short Productions

When we are touring major productions, we are able to create shorter versions suitable for prison outreach. we have run hour-long productions for the inmates, or picked out key scenes to perform half-an-hour pieces as part of a Sunday service in the prison chaplaincy.

‘I laughed in your face God, if I call out to you now, will you listen to me? Will you save me?’ – Extract from Amazing Grace (C) Oddments Theatre

‘My Story’

We are now taking bookings for our first ever prison-only production, written specifically for inmates. ‘My Story’ is inspired by the true story of an inmate, who lost their way and got pulled into a world of crime. Their struggles and shattered dreams are met with a discovery of hope when they attend the prison chaplaincy. The production is free to prisons.

‘Hey… God. So I’ve been told you’re the guy to talk to about second chances…. I wanna change but I can’t do it on my own.’ – Extract from My Story (C) Oddments Theatre

Want to talk to us about arranging a prison performance? Get in touch here!

How to Support Us

We don’t charge prisons for our visits, making our theatre accessible to everyone. All of the funding for these visits comes from donations from our audience members at our main shows, and our sponsors who give monthly.

To find out more about donating, see our donation page or consider becoming a supporter.

We would also love it if you could join us in praying for more openings in prisons, as we would love to bring a message of hope to more inmates.

Here are some of the prisons we have recently visited:

  • HMP Parc
  • HMP Cardiff
  • HMP Exeter
  • HMP Rye Hill
  • HMP Guys Marsh
  • HMP Brinsford
  • HMP Portland
  • HMP Send

Please pray for logistics to run smoothly, for the inmates to come, and for the message to reach the hearts of those watching.