Regina Co

ABOUT

Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, Regina Co (pronounced: re-hee-na ko) is a multi-disciplinary creative. An actor, director, singer, songwriter and writer, she is currently doing her undergraduate degree in English at University College London.

Regina was first trained as a singer. With experience in musical theatre and pop, she has a classical background. Trained as a lyric soprano, she has been a voice student of the National Artist for Music of the Philippines, Fides Cuyugan-Asensio, since the age of 12. She has also taken singing courses with the Royal Academy of Music (2018) and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (2017).

This naturally lent itself to the acting craft. From adaptations of Haruki Murakami’s short stories in high school to Shakespeare plays during the pandemic, Regina is naturally drawn to acting in challenging and diverse material. As an actor, she trained on a summer course with the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (2020) and has also worked with the National Youth Theatre and Equity UK. She regularly performs in UCL’s bustling theatre community.

It is also at UCL that Regina continues to hone her skills as a writer. She is currently the Theatre section editor of Era Journal, UCL’s arts and culture journal. In her spare time, Regina works on her novel, among other short pieces.

Regina is planning to release more of her original music soon, having written songs regularly since adolescence. Her time in London has become the main source of her inspiration.

She made her directorial debut with Jonathan Larson’s semi-autobiographical musical, Tick, Tick… Boom! in June 2022. Her staging consisted of immersive elements, an expanded cast size and multimedia use, heavily influenced by her avant-garde high school theatre teacher, Sam Findel-Hawkins.

Outside of her creative work, Regina is passionate about access to education and expanding opportunities for disadvantaged groups.

Regina is currently based in London and misses Manila Chinatown food very much. As an international student, she has the right to work in the UK.