
Meet STRANGE BIRD
Strange Bird Immersive is on a mission to transform what theatre can be. Our innovative immersive experiences invite audiences into the story, strengthening their sense of agency, empathy, and wonder.
~ IN FANTASIA VERITAS ~
Cast of The Man From Beyond
Patrick Barton
company member since 2024
is honored and privileged to be a part of Strange Bird Immersive.
His favorite roles break down fourth walls, creating immersion for the audience,
and he’s excited to be able to bring this love for connection to The Man From Beyond.
Prior highlights for Patrick have been the role of
Stage Manager in Our Town and Man in Chair in The Drowsy Chaperone, both for Stageworks Theatre.
He is also on the leadership team of The Octarine Accord,
dedicated to bringing on-stage speculative fiction and reckless kindness to the world.
Patrick has a great passion for long distance running, poker, and teaching.
He has been a professor of communication at Lone Star College-CyFair since 2010.
He is also a living kidney donor and encourages you to do the same$mdash;so many lives can be changed
with just a small sacrifice.
Visit livingbank.org and see how you can make a difference.
Rebecca Bernstein
company member since 2022
is an actor, director and native Houstonian.
She serves as artistic director of Zoom Shakespeare Productions,
which she founded in 2020 and has produced over sixty virtual productions,
including the whole of the Shakespeare canon and two world premiere adaptations.
Her favorite directorial credits include ZSP’s adaptations of
Coriolanus, Edward II, The Taming of the Shrew,
and Peter Pan in addition to
Angel Street (Company Onstage) and
The Grapes of Wrath (Houston Theater Company).
Some of her favorite acting credits include
Laura in The Glass Menagerie (Pasadena Little Theater),
Mariana in Measure for Measure (Troupe D’Jour),
and Theresa De Lamballe/Revolutionary in Marie Antoinette (Sankofa Collective).
She is a long-time cast member of the murder mystery show,
The Dinner Detective
and has appeared in several sketch comedy and improv shows with Pronoia Theater.
She is thrilled to be joining this incredible company and is a
big proponent of strangeness. Find her
@rebeccafloren00 on Instagram.
Haley E. R. Cooper
company member since 2016
is co-artistic director of Strange Bird Immersive
and one of the creators of The Man From Beyond.
She is well-known in the escape room world for her deep thinking and passion for the art form,
but she loves best the chance to connect with you, the players,
inside an imaginary world.
On stage, Haley's favorite credits include:
As You Like It (Rosalind),
Comedy of Errors (Adriana),
Richard III (Buckingham),
Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice),
Proof (Catherine).
Directing credits:
The Man From Beyond,
Hamlet,
and The Merchant of Venice with Rice University's Baker Shakespeare program.
After earning her B.A. at Rice and her M.A. in intellectual history at the University of Wisconsin,
Haley pivoted from academia to the arts and hopes even stranger things may yet happen.
For a behind-the-scenes glimpse, check out
Immersology, her blog dedicated to the practice of immersive theatre.
J. Cameron Cooper
company member since 2016
is a co-artistic director of Strange Bird,
and one of the team that created and built
The Man From Beyond,
including (but not limited to) writing the script,
show control programming, the scenic and lighting design,
and prop building and finish carpentry (including the mantel).
He played Brendan O'Neill in the limited-run pandemic special event
The Strange Secret of Mr. Adrian Rook.
He will also on occasion hold seances as Daphne's brother Devon,
when Daphne is indisposed.
Cameron is no longer regularly active in other theatre, but
in the past appeared at Texas Rep, Back Porch Players,
Shakespeare in the Shade, Baker Shakespeare, and more.
Cameron is no longer regularly active in other theatre, but in the past appeared at Texas Rep, Back Porch Players, Shakespeare in the Shade, Baker Shakespeare, and more.