Co-op Juniors Theatre Productions

The Co-op Juniors Theatre Company is the largest amateur theatre group in the UK. Based in Ipswich, Suffolk, in the last year they’ve entertained audiences totalling over 14,000 with stunning, high-energy musical productions.

Christmas Spectacular 2008 The group started out in Ipswich during the Second World War then performed as the Co-op Juniors at the Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe, from the early 1950s until 1977, before moving to the Ipswich Regent (then the Gaumont) in 1978.

They remained at the Regent for 25 years, staging an annual pantomime and musicals ranging from Oliver! and The Sound of Music to Fame and Les Misérables.

The group also led a successful campaign to save the Ipswich Regent for live entertainment, when its future was threatened in 1991.

In 2005, the regular cast of 100 moved to the world-famous Snape Maltings Concert Hall, home of the Aldeburgh Festival, to stage their hugely successful Christmas Spectacular! Last year, the show ran for 12 performances at Snape Maltings before touring to Charter Hall Colchester. Visit the Past Shows section for more information, the programme, photographs and press coverage.

Recent productions include We Will Rock You at the Ipswich Corn Exchange and two sell-out runs at the Seckford Theatre, Woodbridge, of Disney’s High School Musical and High School Musical 2.