Peter Salvatore Petralia
Peter Salvatore Petralia is a storyteller who brings to life the experiences of unconventional characters navigating complex and often chaotic worlds. Peter's passion for the underdog was forged in the crucible of his own struggles growing up as a weird gay kid in a fractured family in 1980s and 90s Florida. His writing is deeply rooted in the experiences of those who, like him, have faced adversity head-on.
Peter’s eclectic background is as colourful as the characters he writes about. From performing in the circus to producing Barbie’s first GameBoy Color, and even stepping into the ring as an amateur boxer in his forties, Peter's life is a testament to the power of reinvention and resilience.
His screenplays, which often spotlight LGBTQ+ and older characters, have garnered recognition in numerous prestigious contests, including the Titan Awards and The Finish Line Script Competition. With an MA and PhD in Theater Studies, Peter’s work builds on decades of experience writing for the stage, where his plays have been produced across four continents.
Critics have praised his ability to create rich atmospheres and compelling narratives. Time Out New York described him as "a master at creating atmosphere," while The New York Times noted his genre-defying audio-visual performance Whisper as being "often quite poetic...flirting with the feel of a supernatural psychological thriller."
Illume Showcase
In August 2024, I gave a pitch that explains who I am as a writer at The Spark File’s first ever showcase of their artist coaching program, Illume. Watch to hear an excerpt from my new novel, learn a bit more about who I am, and a snapshot of what I’m currently working on as a writer.
Image/Video/Audio courtesy of The Spark File.
Theater Background
I’ve been a producer, director, writer, curator, researcher, educator and was the founding artistic director of Proto-type Theater. My theater work, both with Proto-type and with others, has been seen in the United States, United Kingdom, Armenia, Russia, the Netherlands, South Korea, Mongolia, China, Zimbabwe, and Romania.
I am currently collaborating with Tiffany Mills Company and Max Giteck Duykers on interdisciplinary dance, music, theater works.
I am the author of the performance texts Poor Angels, Bunny’s Last Night in Limbo, Cheap Thrills, Three Ring, Third Person, The Christmas Suicides, Invisible Messages, Third Person: Bonnie and Clyde Redux, Whisper, Virtuoso (working title), About Silence, Fortnight, and The Good the God and the Guillotine.
I collaborated on 1001 Nights Cast for which I authored four entries (available online here, here, here and here) and I worked as a dramaturge and performance coach with the Tiffany Mills Company with whom I collaborated on three pieces of touring dance theatre including 2023’s Vapor/Blood which premiered at National Sawdust in NYC. I am the recipient of several awards, grants and residencies including the HERE Artist Residency Program (NYC), Lincoln Center Director’s Lab (NYC), Das Arts (Amsterdam), 2004 nytheatre.com Person of the Year (NYC), Artward Bound of the Field (NYC), Chashama Area Award (NYC), Mondo Cane Commission from Dixon Place (NYC), TCG/ITI Travel Grant (NYC/Russia), The Creative Lab at The Center for Contemporary Art (Glasgow), the Outside/Input Program of Richard Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theater (NYC), IETM Intro Award, and Jerome Foundation Commission from PS122 (NYC).
I was part of the curatorial team for the 2002 Queer@HERE Festival, the 2003 Fuse Festival and Avant-Garde-Arama at PS122, and have been a guest artist in Busan (South Korea), Dublin (Ireland), Brest (France), Tirgu-Mures (Romania), and Asheville (North Carolina). I was the 2008-09 New Work Network Activator for the North West of England. I was the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees for New Work Network and on the advisory boards for Live at LICA, hAb and Avant, The Journal of the Philosophical-Interdisciplinary Vanguard.
Digital, Brand, and Marketing Expertise
I am a partner at Modern Craft.
I started working in digital product, brand, and marketing in 1999 when I was part of the first wave of the dot com boom/bust. I worked at a small video game development startup whose focus was on developing games for kids, and especially girls.
I helped brands like Barbie, Cheerios, Christina Aguilera, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, and Stuart Little figure out how to adapt their brands to the relatively new medium of mass-market video games and online experiences.
Since that time, I’ve been lucky enough to work with many other major brands as they’ve gone through moments of transformation: Uniqlo launching their e-commerce presence in the US, Epicurious launching their first member area and print functionality, State Farm updating their business to be more self-service through a robust product strategy, and HP launching its new brand as it split into two entities. My experience across industries and at all levels of digitally enabled organizations means that I understand digital channels, product strategy, demand generation, and how to organize a team to deliver in the rapidly changing space of digital.
My professional expertise has mostly been agency or consultancy side. Some of my clients have included Barbie, Christina Aguilera, Cheerios, Cablevision, Credit Suisse, Britney Spears, Bayer CropScience, Novartis, Bonefish Grill, State Farm, Condé Nast (epicurious.com, style.com), Balenciaga, UNIQLO, Amex, Brown University, Duke University, Teach For America, Two Sigma, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, HP Inc, Destination Canada, Freybe, Destination British Columbia, Tourism Vancouver, Avalara, Scholastic, New Classrooms, Attuned Education Partners, The Opportunity Trust, and Thorne amongst others.
I have a background in account and project management, and digital strategy having worked at Razorfish, Blast Radius, PayPal, Valtech, Huge, and Sullivan in NY.
I completed my PhD from Lancaster University where I was a recipient of an Overseas Research Award. I was Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre at MMU Cheshire where I was also Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Contemporary Theatre and Performance degree. At MMU, I was a research lead, international recruitment officer, and the departmental e-learning champion.
I am an amateur boxer, used to be in the circus, and live on Vancouver Island with my husband Brian and dog Miles Davis. I am a member of the board of ROAR, an organization that helps to resettle LGBTQIA+ individuals from countries where they are not safe. I’m also a member of the Nanaimo Performing Arts Guild, a formal committee convened by the Nanaimo City Council to provide guidance and advice on performing arts in the city.
