Meet Our Team
Studio Playground Co-Founders Matthew Bretschneider & Stefanie Resnick
Our team includes experienced teachers with professional experience as actors, directors & visual artists who are passionate about using theater education as a tool to support students developing confidence in themselves, compassion for others & a sense of belonging to an artistic community.
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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.
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)
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Camp Director
Alexander Crespo-Rosario (he/him) is a Native Taino, born in Puerto Rico. He is a Rhode Island College graduate with a double major in Dance Performance and Musical Theatre. He started his career as a B-boy representing the All City Rockers crew. Crespo has worked with choreographers such as Alexandra Beller, Teena Marie, Billy Siegenfeld, Rennie Harris, Marta Renzi, and 10 Hairy Legs, to name a few. He is among the first five artists to receive the Miranda Scholarship, an award from Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Miranda Family for artists of color “who have exhibited exceptional passion, drive, and unique points of view in various artistic mediums.” Theatre credits include Trinity Rep: La Tempestad, La Cage aux Folles, Carlos, La Broa’, Becky Nurse of Salem, Sweeney Todd, A Christmas Carol; Teatro en El Verano: La Mancha; Burbage Theatre Company: WITCH, JUNK. Currently, Crespo is an Artistic Associate for Studio Playground, and his goal is to become the best human and performer that he can be -- to help himself and others laugh, cry, celebrate -- and just feel, through the connections that Theatre and Dance can bring.
Education: BFA, Rhode Island College
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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
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Teaching Artist
Anna Slate (she/her) is a Providence-based actor, singer, theatre-maker, and arts educator. Recent theatre credits include: Leopoldstadt (Huntington & Shakespeare Theatre Companies), Cold War Choir Practice, La Cage aux Folles, By the Queen (Trinity Repertory), Indecent; Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 (Wilbury Theatre Group), Romeo & Juliet (Lanes Coven Theater Co.), Handle with Care (North Carolina Stage Company), A Little Night Music, The Fantasticks (Four Seasons Theatre). Favorite opera credits: Xerxes (Berkeley West Edge Opera), Dido and Aeneas (Heartbeat Opera), Alcina (OperaRox).
Education: BA, Vocal Performance, University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Teaching Artist
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
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Teaching Artist
Rachel Santagate (she/her) is a performer and theatre educator new to the Rhode Island community. She has performed throughout the Philadelphia area and has just returned to the northeast after working for the Walt Disney Company with Finding Nemo: The Big Blue and Beyond! Most recently she served as the lead early childhood teaching artist at Central Florida Community Arts, and in early summer Lizzy can be found as a youth programs director at Upper Darby Summer Stage, where she learned the magic of theatre education and the power of creating with your community.
Education: Saint Joseph's University, BA in Theatre and Film with Directing Concentration
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Teaching Artist
Olivia Humulock (she/her) is a graduate of University of Rhode Island and Boston Conservatory with bachelor’s degrees in Theater and Fashion Merchandising. She has fifteen years of vocal training most recently under Elizabeth Splaine. Olivia has appeared on the Stadium stage as Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins and Maria in The Sound of Music. She has also performed with the University of Rhode Island and Newport Play House. Other roles include Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Delia in the short film Cherry Pie by Allison Magnus as well as the three roles of Nell Gwynne, Maria and Jailor in Or by Liz Duffy Adams. Olivia’s other film credits include the role of Lucy Carmilla in Waterwick by Lionel Jeffries and Her in Heaven Above Rowen by Justin Greenberg.
BFA, University of Rhode Island
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Teaching Artist
Siobhan Marie Doherty (she/her) is a creativity coach, joy facilitator, and feminist historical comedian. She has over 15 years of experience as a performer:educator:facilitator. Empowering others to share their voices more effectively has led her to working with clients as wide ranging as Stanford University, SFO Airport, and Each One Reach One, a non-profit playwriting program for incarcerated teens. Her performance credits include Magic Theater, Shotgun Players, Killing My Lobster, and PianoFight. She writes and produces the ongoing show Feminist Breakfast Party, does improv with Kismet in Pawtucket.
BFA, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
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Teaching Artist
Filipa Estrela (any pronouns) is a crafter, cartoonist, clown, costumer, and educator; sometimes all at the same time. They are an artist working in the Providence, Rhode Island area and are a member of the Queer Archive Work and Binch Press studio. Filipa’s creative practice is all about play, experimentation, blending the everyday with a dose of myth, magic and wonder. In their works they often draw inspiration from their identity and heritage as a queer, gender-fluid, Cape-Verdean/ Chinese/ Portuguese mixed person of color, while focusing on soft moments that reflect the complex relationships people experience within themselves and with others. Most of all, Filpa wants to tell stories that are heartwarming, encourage human connection, and inspire others to embrace their own creative selves.
feltmythical.carrd.co
Join Our Team
Seeking Teaching Artists
Studio Playground is seeking Teaching Artists to join our team. This is a part-time seasonal position. Opportunities include after-school programs in Rhode Island and our theater camp in Lincoln Woods State Park which occurs August 3-21, 2026. The time commitment varies depending on the program. The compensation is $30 per hour.
The mission of Studio Playground is to use the performing arts to promote acceptance & empowerment for children in Rhode Island. Our classes are based in movement and physical acting with a focus on skills to support social emotional development. Our teaching practices emphasize using theater education to foster a feeling of belonging for students.
Required Experience
Undergraduate degree
Teaching experience (2 years)
Theater experience (2 years)
Compensation: 30 per hour
Apply: To apply, send resume, references & cover letter to info@studioplayground.org. Please indicate whether you are interested in teaching for after-school programs or for our theater camp in Lincoln Woods State Park.
laugh. sing. make a beautiful ruckus.
laugh. sing.
make a beautiful ruckus.
Theater Camp in Lincoln Woods State Park (2021)
