About Centaurus
THeatre Company
Centaurus Theatre Company strives to provide our students and audiences with the best theatrical experience possible through an environment that values education and inclusivity.
Following five years known as Mercury Theatre Company, we have re-established our program as Centaurus Theatre Company. As a student run program, we strive to provide our participants with the best theatrical experience possible; that includes the audience! With education at the forefront, each Centaurus High School student who joins our program has the ability to help with and gain a full understanding of what it takes to put on a production. After choosing a department or multiple departments to aide, our actors and technicians leave each production with a wealth of knowledge which rivals professional training, but is taught by their peers. We turn no one away and there is a role or position for everyone who wants to help us wow the house when places are called on opening night.
Our take on theatre is provocative. We seek to (and aim to make our audience) question the world around us through the performing arts. In the past two years we have been highlighted in multiple news articles for our use of theatre to make people think from a different perspective. Following our production of the docu-play Wilderness, which promoted the importance of mental heathcare in teenagers, Centaurus Theatre Company was featured in newspapers across the Front Range, including Westword and The Daily Camera. Since then, we have been quoted in other articles, most recently for our ability to continue producing shows, safely, through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our theatre company is headed by a student-comprised board. Each spring, at our end-of-year banquet, a new board is elected. Any rising junior or senior is eligiable to run, regardless of if they've been part of our program for one show, or since their first day of high school! Board members are elected to one of six positions by a voting body of their fellow thespians. This board spearheads all aspects of our theatre program, from our welcoming our new members, to community outreach, and access to programs, such as the Colorado Thespian Conference. They are pillars who stand as rolemodels in our troupe. Our board is integrated into the rest of our student body, making them accessable to everyone. If you have a question, just ask-- anyone of them is available for any need you may have!
While Centaurus Theatre Company is a student run program, there is so much that we, as high-schoolers don't know about running a theatre company on both the artistic and business side. To help teach us everything we need to know about theatre, we have Jay Kinsel, our director and teacher-sponsor. Jay Kinsel has a BFA in Theatre from Stephen F Austin University, in Texas. He is an Off-Broadway theatrical director and member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society as well as the Dramatist Guild. He specializes in original works and has been a part of creating shows for international organizations such as Up with People, World Campus International: Japan, and Manhattan Repertory Theatre. Jay has spent much of his career helping young talented students develop their passion for the arts. He has worked in number of Fine Art schools and programs across the country such as KenMont KenWood Camp, The Studio School, Center Stage Theatre Company, Mountain Range and Thornton High Schools. Since 2016, he has been working at Centaurus High School, first as our Technical Director and now as our Theatrical Director and Producer. As of 2020, he is also the teacher of the Horizons Credit Recovery program at Centaurus. Having produced over 130 shows in some capacity, he is always open to sharing is wealth of knowledge with any of the 60+ students he oversees and directs. We are so grateful to have him and are always so excited to see what amazing, sometimes crazy, ideas he comes up with next!