Bio

Wil Petre is a performer, writer, event maker, and experience designer specializing in curating intimate performance in public spaces. Much of his original work focuses on breaking down the social barriers that exist in urban environments, often through the lens of hospitality and cocktails.

His original work includes Mixed: a Discourse in Three Cocktails, Cocktails for the People, Smooch the Tucc, and cocktail storytelling. Follow his Instagram for updates on live events. In 2023 he began to publish a zine: Cocktail Recipes for Those Who Like the Stories, available for purchase online or at any of his live shows.

Wil created the alchemical conversational card game Social Alchemix, currently for sale online, and hosts Social Alchemix (Live!) (formally A Cocktail Party Social Experiment), centered on the gameplay.

As a performer and writer, Wil was a part of the original creative cast of Third Rail Projects' The Grand Paradise, and an original creative cast member of Queen of the Night, the 2015 Drama Desk recipient for Unique Theatrical Experience. With The Windmill Factory, he was a part of the 2014 Future of Storytelling Summit in Snug Harbor, Staten Island, and with Woodshed Collective a part of the 2016 Future of Storytelling Festival at the Africa Center. He has told stories with The Moth, and occasionally performs boylesque under the name Handsome Peter.

He has worked with Minute Zero, Witness Relocation, Theater Mitu, Les Freres Corbusier/Alex Timbers, John Clancy/Clancy Productions, TR Warszawa, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Playwright's Horizons, Cherry Lane, La MaMa ETC, St. Ann's Warehouse, Ars Nova, Incubator Arts (RIP), and Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Wil's work has traveled him throughout the United States and abroad to Brest France, Edinburgh UK, Abu Dhabi UAE, and (via skype) the homes of residents of Wroclaw Poland. His on-camera projects have played festivals in Sundance, Los Angeles, Boston, and New York. He has been an artist in residency with Fresh Ground Pepper.

Wil received his BFA w/ honors in Drama from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He is currently based out of Brooklyn, NY and the Catskills.