We are one of the region’s oldest musical theatre companies and perform annually to rave reviews.
Founded in 1924, Colchester Operatic Society has gone from strength to strength and on the 9th May 2022 we became a registered Charity (Charity no. 1198865).
Our COS membership comprises of members aged 16 and over. We currently produce a main show in the early part of the year, running for two weeks at The Mercury Theatre and a summer concert, which has been performed at a variety of smaller venues, in and around Colchester.
We are also honoured to be asked fairly regularly to perform at a variety of functions, such as fundraising events, carol singing and one off performances, in and around Colchester.
In addition, we have a junior members group, aged 11 – 23, known collectively as ‘CO2‘ (Colchester Operatic Society Second Edition), which is incredibly popular. CO2 produce an annual show in the Autumn for a two week run at The Mercury Theatre.
The Society prides itself on the number of young people who have gone on from CO2, through COS and on to form successful careers within the theatrical industry. Many of these are currently performing on West End stages and on your TV screens!
Nevertheless, the dream of a future career in theatre is not a pre-requisite for joining the Society – for many of our members it is being part of an exciting theatrical project that interests them. Whether your forte is acting, dancing, singing or assisting in other aspects of the production, there is something for you in COS.
In addition to our on-stage activities, the Society hosts a number of social events throughout the year. These range from quizzes and workshops to formal dinner-dances, summer BBQs and much more.
The Executive Committee (made up from elected members of the Society) run the society on behalf of its membership and aswell as organising and co-ordinating our productions, they also produce a regular newsletter which, as well as our website and facebook page/ groups, keeps members informed of events, shows and performances that are planned and reviews of past activities.
Keeping in touch or finding out information has never been so easy – our website covers everything you need to know about the Society, and our Contacts page is designed to give you the details of people you need to ask any burning questions to!
Your level of commitment to the Society can be as little or as much as you want – many of our non-acting members prefer just to help out during the run of a show, whilst our performing members obviously commit a significantly greater amount of time to evening and the occasional weekend rehearsals, as well as the performances.
Whatever your age, gender, ethnicity, experience or ability, Colchester Operatic Society offers challenging, rewarding and above all FUN activities for individuals, couples and entire families in Colchester, with an emphasis on musical theatre.
Get in touch and find out how you can get involved!
Safeguarding children
Because we run a junior group and sometimes have children cast in our main shows we take safeguarding their well-being and safety seriously and have appointed committee members in charge of this who also organise chaperones for the children involved at rehearsals and during shows. We have been inspected by Essex County Council during show runs and have been successful in adhering to all procedures we are legally obliged to in order to safeguard all children involved with our society’s productions.
Our current child protection policy can be viewed and/or downloaded here.
