Preston Free Cooper

Artist Statement
(226) 926-1968 • prestonwinder3@gmail.com • (he/they)

My interest in theatre was first piqued in high school when my music teacher
plucked me out of obscurity and it was the Original Broadway cast recording of Company
by Stephen Sondheim. A concept musical dissecting cis-normative heterosexual marriages
in 1970. I was only in tenth grade. Needless to say, I’m interested in theatre that makes you
lean in and pay attention as opposed to sinking back, spectating, and tapping your toes. I
want to create art that is new, inclusive, real, and intensely detailed to the most obscure
detail. Art that bites ferociously at the status quo.

Theatre, as a medium of storytelling, is so important. It is an art form that

fosters community where other art forms can feel more distant. Like watching a movie
or viewing a painting: you can feel far removed from the artist as a human being, but
seeing someone breathing live on stage and feeling the tangible energy in the house is
just captivating in an other-worldly way. Theatre can suspend your disbelief and take
you far away, live and before your very eyes.

Scene work is about affecting your partner to get what you want and I see live
theatre as a similar tool in our world. Live theatre makes statements about the society
around us, positive or negative, and can change people’s outlook and opinions on life
and our Earthly concerns. Musicals can change the world and reveal so much about us
by simply holding a mirror up to the human condition.