Proto-type Theater creates new works of live performance that give equal weight to form and content. Physical theatre, text, circus, original music, and evocative lighting merge into an unpredictably dynamic form through which Proto-type dissects modernity. Our audience expects to have a strong reaction: to love it, to hate it, to be inspired into conversation or silence.

Proto-type was formed in 1997. The company’s work implicates the audience in its investigation of modern life. The content continually returns to family, obsession, mythology, sexuality and life, in general, in an urban landscape. As young, urban artists, we are drawn to issues that concern people in proximity and the difficulties in communicating amidst the societal confusion such proximity provokes.

In the time since our formation, we have created: FRACK TO BUNT (1996, 1997) performed at 111 Minna
(SF) and NYU, POOR ANGELS (1999), BUNNY’S LAST NIGHT IN LIMBO (2000 and 2001), THE
TWILIGHT SERIES (2001) which were performed at HERE Arts Center, CHEAP THRILLS (2002, 2003)
which was performed at HERE Arts Center, as a reading at New York Theatre Workshop and as a workshop at
Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, THREE RING (2003, 2004) which was performed at HERE Arts
Center, Walkerspace and at the Sibiu International Theater Festival in Romania, ABOUT SILENCE (2003,
2004) which was performed at One Arm Red and Dixon Place, MUSEUM OF DREAMS (2004, 2005) which
was performed at Chashama, THIRD PERSON (2005) which was performed at the Brick Theater in Brooklyn,
APOSTASY (2005) which was commissioned by Dixon Place, INVISIBLE MESSAGES (2006) which was
commissioned by PS122 and WHISPER (2007) developed through a residency at the CCA Glasgow and at the
Nuffield Theatre Lancaster (UK). WHISPER has been on tour since February 2008 throughout England and in
New York City where it was performed at PS122.

Company Members: Rachel Baynton, Gillian Lees, Rebecca M. K. Makus, Peter S Petralia (Artistic Director),
and Andrew Westerside.

Press Quotes
“…[Whisper is] an intriguing brush with altered reality… And the production, which he also directed, flirts
with the feel of a supernatural, psychological thriller.” -Anita Gates, The New York Times

“Whisper cleverly mines the dramatic tension between ‘reality’ and the seductive power of technology
…” -Paul Menard, Backstage

“Whisper is quite simply an extraordinary piece of theatre.” -Carole Gordon, What’s On Stage

“..the mixture of foley soundscapes and the strange melding and disconnect between image and sound
sucks you in.” -Lyn Gardner, The Guardian (about WHISPER)

“Director Peter S. Petralia is a master at creating atmosphere… Keep an eye out for this adventurous
group…” -Jason Zinoman, Time Out New York