Oxfordshire Theatre Company, founded in 1979, is acknowledged as one of the foremost small-scale theatre companies with a unique reputation for taking high quality, accessible shows to audiences in rural areas with little or no access to professional theatre. The company draws communities together, promotes new writing, encourages diversity and inclusion, and challenges audiences with its innovative productions.
"First-class theatre to far-flung communities" Oxford Times
The company places narrative at the heart of its work, boldly championing ambitious, new work that creatively makes connections, revisits stories, celebrates rural experience, or creates a clash of cultures, fusing
drama, design, music and movement in accessible but vibrant and surprising ways. Whilst its spaces for performance will remain small, the ambition and vision will certainly not.
People, young and old, since time began, have been gathering together to share stories, celebrate traditions, play music, dance, learn more about their world and, importantly, be entertained. Oxfordshire Theatre Company is an important part of that tradition, taking theatre into the heart of communities, providing opportunities to reconnect and communicate, providing vital and life-enhancing experiences, and transforming spaces.
Whilst productions must fit into a van, tour, set up in two or three hours, be flexible enough to adapt to many and varied spaces, and above all be managed by a small team of performers and technicians; the
audiences' expectations must constantly be challenged and exceeded by the quality of the writing, performance of the actors, ingenuity of the set, and the ever increasing possibilities created by new technology.
The company creates a minimum of three productions each year, from traditional stories for families to hard hitting drama for adults.
Each production is inspired by:
Making Connections - verbatim inspired work
Stories revisited - original takes on classic works or second productions
A Sense of Place - work that is celebratory or is inspired by rural life
A Clash of Cultures - work that embraces diversity within a national and international perspective
For further information on current and previous productions see Shows
