Colchester Operatic Society Second Edition (CO2)
We believe that nurturing young people’s passion, talents and skills in Musical Theatre can improve their lives and our community, now and for the future.
Our youth group, known collectively as ‘CO2‘, provides opportunities for young people to get involved with local theatre.
Open to anyone aged 11-23, the group is incredibly popular and has produced 35 shows since it was formed in 1984, involving over 2,000 young people producing annual shows in the Autumn for a one-week run at The Mercury Theatre.
Why Join?
As a local, not-for-profit group, we pride ourselves on putting on the best level show year on year. Your membership enables us to provide you with:
- The opportunity to audition and perform in prestigious venues with high production value.
- An incredibly nurturing environment that drives creativity.
- A fun and fulfilling experience – and amazing memories!
- Theatre experience – a platform for learning & perfecting your performance and/or technical skills
Testimonials
Membership Costs just £10 per year!
A Show Fee is approximately £85
Membership and Show Fees help to cover some of our expenses including:
- Theatre Hires
- Rehearsal Space Costs (we usually rehearse once a week and some Sundays)
- Director & Musical Director Fees
- Set Hire
- Costume & Props Hire
- Show Licensing & Script/Score Hire
- Equipment Hire
- Orchestra/Band Hire
- Expenses (Moving show items from storage to theatre, van hire for various transport to and from theatre)
If you’ve heard of us or seen one of our shows and would like to join us then drop us an email at co2theatre@
Come and audition!
CO2 run a workshop day, open to all who register prior to any auditions. This is a fun way to learn about the show, practice skills, routines & songs you need for the auditions (and show) and meet others thinking of auditioning.
Everyone auditioning will do a dance and vocal audition for the ensemble, or can audition for a principal character and do a dance, vocal and acting audition.
There will be a small audition panel of around 5 people, including the Director and Musical Director. CO2 auditions are closed, so only the audition panel and necessary chaperones will be in the audition room. Don’t worry, we provide all the audition pieces, and as well as our workshop, we run pre-audition rehearsals which provide plenty of teaching time as well as time to practice.
Auditioning is quite simple, although as with any auditions, they can be a little scary or daunting but you are not alone in feeling like this; we all feel the same, even the seasoned CO2 & COS members!
To view and/or download our Audition processes click here
Safeguarding children
CO2 has a safeguarding lead (see CO2 committee list on our committees page). For more information on how we safeguard children visit our policies page.
