Play Creation includes visual arts, prop-making, costume design, improvisation, movement, and narrative storytelling. This class is instructed by Filipa Estrela and Matthew Bretschneider.
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.
Matthew Bretschneider (he/him) is Artistic Director of Studio Playground and an Adjunct Professor at Boston University. He has performed with the Huntington Theatre Company, 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 his MSW from Rhode Island College School of Social Work and received a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Matthew has taught physical theater for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Trinity Repertory Company, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Rhode Island College, University of Rhode Island, and Suffolk University.