Wil Petre Brings A COCKTAIL PARTY SOCIAL EXPERIMENT to Chelsea Music Hall

Wil Petre, a NYC-based cocktail guru and a performer best known for his off-Broadway work (including Third Rail Projects' The Grand Paradise) invites the audience to join A COCKTAIL PARTY SOCIAL EXPERIMENT - an unconventional hybrid of immersive theater, story slam, and an evening of boozy voyeurism, playing at Chelsea Music Hall (407 W15th St, New York, NY 10011) on November 24th, 2019 and December 16th, 2019. Tickets are $15 (includes one complimentary cocktail; a bar on the premises opens an hour before the show and serves drinks throughout the performance) and can be purchased at www.acocktailpartygame.com.

Is it possible to have a meaningful conversation with a perfect stranger in our fast-paced, increasingly lonely world? This question has inspired the theatre artist and storyteller Wil Petry to create A COCKTAIL PARTY SOCIAL EXPERIMENT, an immersive evening of cocktails and storytelling. The project was developed over the past two years in tandem with A Cocktail Party Game, an actual game employing a deck of symbolic cards, containing a selection of drink recipes as well as conversation prompts, such as: "When was your moral compass off?" or: "What happens next?" The guests of this show are asked to turn off their cell phones for the duration of the event; some can just watch and listen - while eight volunteers skip the small talk, and get into the good stuff.

"I created A Cocktail Party Game and A Cocktail Party Social Experiment to give people permission and a formula to have a real conversation, all the while retaining their ears to listen," says Petre, whose first-hand knowledge of how meaningful and healing a conversation can be comes from years of experience as a NYC bartender. "In a society where social media-dominated communication induces feelings of alienation and detachment, I am interested in creating analog and intimate performances that can slow us down and feel connected again," he further explains.

The first two performances are an opener for a monthly series. For more details and upcoming 2020 dates, visit www.acocktailpartygame.com.

Wil Petre (Concept, Host) is a performer, director, and experience designer specializing in intimate performance in public spaces. He has been praised by The New York Times as "a supremely charming actor who finds every laugh in the script and many that aren't." Notable recent appearances include Third Rail Projects' 2016 show The Grand Paradise, of which he was an original cast member; Wil was also an original creative cast member of Queen of the Night, the 2015 Drama Desk recipient for Unique Theatrical Experience. Petre has also worked with The Civilians, Witness Relocation, Minute Zero, Collective Museum, Theater Mitu, and Les Freres Corbusier/Alex Timbers, among others, and appeared on stage at such important NYC venues as Playwright's Horizons, Cherry Lane Theater, La MaMa ETC, St. Ann's Warehouse, and Ars Nova. Outside the city, he performed nationwide and internationally, including appearances at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and in Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He also works in film and TV.

As a storyteller, Wil has told stories with The Moth, winning the first slam he participated in and appearing in many subsequent Moth GrandSlams. He also told stories at other open mic venues such as KGB Bar and Bar 2A. Will was also a participant of the 2014 Future of Storytelling Summit in Snug Harbor, Staten Island (with The Windmill Factory), and 2016 Future of Storytelling Festival at the Africa Center (with Woodshed Collective.)

Petre received his BFA with honors in Drama from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he has also been teaching for almost a decade. He is currently based out of Brooklyn, NY where he operates a cocktail experience company Aqua Regia and its signature bar for one. He occasionally performs boylesque under the name Handsome Peter. www.wilpetre.com

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