Meet Our Team

Founding Artistic Director

Matthew Bretschneider, MSW, LCSW (he/him) is an Adjunct Professor at Boston University where he teaches Acting & Performance. He has trained extensively with Christopher Bayes and has studied physical theater with Norman Taylor, Mary Overlie, Shannan Calcutt, David Bridel, and Gabriel Levey, among others. He has performed with the Huntington Theatre Company, (Tartuffe, Romeo & Juliet, Lehman Trilogy, Common Ground Revisited, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead), The Flea Theater, Theatre Row, The New Ohio, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Kitchen Theatre Company, and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Television Credits include Law & Order: SVU and The Path. Matthew received an MSW from Rhode Island College School of Social Work and a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with advanced professional training from The Pandemonium Studio, Movement Theater Studio & The Clown School. Matthew teaches for training programs which include Salve Regina University, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Trinity Repertory Company, Walnut Hill School for the Arts & Suffolk University. Matthew founded Studio Playground in 2020 with Co-Founding Artistic Director, Stefanie Resnick.

matthewbretschneider.com

MSW, Rhode Island School School of Social Work

BFA, New York University, Tisch School for the Arts

“When you’re working on clown as a professional actor, it’s good for flexibility, for range, for emotional intelligence, physical intelligence, and when we offer it to children, one of the concepts we start with is the gift of laughter. Essentially, we’re trying to teach students to be generous with their work. We talk about the health benefits of laughter - the release of endorphins and serotonin, relief from stress. We’re trying to teach them that if they make someone laugh, they’re going to make that person feel better, which in turn may help them live a little longer, and therefore make the world a more compassionate place to live in. If a child is nervous about going onstage, one of the concepts we reiterate to them is that if they make someone laugh, they are doing something good for someone else. That’s why we risk it.”

-Matthew Bretschneider (Providence Monthly, 2023)

Theater Camp Director

Chris Stahl (they/he) is a professional actor and educator whose work spans classical and contemporary theatre, film, and television. They have performed extensively in New York and at leading regional theatres across the country, including Lincoln Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Flea, Theatre for a New Audience, and Trinity Repertory Company. They have been honored with awards and grants for their work, including from the National Endowment for the Arts. On screen, Stahl’s film and television credits include The Invisible Girl (Cannes Film Festival recognition), as well as upcoming projects The Drama (A24) and The Provider, and numerous commercials. A proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA, they also hold an MFA in Acting from Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company, and a BA in Theatre Performance from Fordham University at Lincoln Center. Their teaching emphasizes truthful listening, on-camera technique, professional preparedness, and the integration of classical training with contemporary storytelling. They are passionate about helping students develop artistic rigor and sustainable practices for careers in performance, both for the stage and the screen.

Education: MFA, Brown/Trinity; BA, Fordham Lincoln Center

chrisstahlactor.com

Camp Director

Ava Varszegi (she/her) is an illustrator and educator based in
Providence, RI. Although she primarily teaches visual arts, she got
her start teaching at the Children’s Circus of Middletown, where she
taught unicycling, art, and clowning. She started attending the
Children’s Circus as a camper at the age of nine ,and later started
touring with their Circophony traveling circus troupe, both run by
Oddfellows Playhouse in Middletown, Connecticut. She has a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, and certificates from RISD Continuing Education in Graphic Design and
Natural Science Illustration.

BFA, Rhode Island School of Design

Graduate Certificates: Graphic Design; Natural Science Illustration; Rhode Island School of Design