Britney Burgess

Co-Artistic Director

Britney had dreamed of starting a theatre company for over a decade before she and Matthew finally took the plunge.  Originally from Salt Lake City, UT, she felt a need to experience “edgier” forms of art and life and decided to learn while traveling.  She attended Reed College in Portland, OR (BA Theatre), spent a year in London studying acting, and rounded off with Brandeis University in Massachusetts (MFA Acting).  New York credits include Zootopia Theatre's productions of Eminene and Professional Skepticism, Twelfth Night with Aisling Arts/Play Outside Festival and Sympathy at the Ensemble Studio Theatre.  A great fan of the Classics, Britney has been most thrilled to play Medea, Klytemnestra, and Andromache, all with a modern twist.  Britney has also taught acting, directed, stage managed, and designed make-up and costumes.  Britney is a member of Actor’s Equity.

  Matthew J. Nichols

Co-Artistic Director

Originally from St. Simons Island, GA, Matthew J. Nichols is an alumnus of Rollins College (BA Theatre/Music) and Brandeis University (MFA Acting).  As an actor in New York, credits include: the world premiere of Jesse Kellerman’s Things Beyond Our Control with the Grid Theater Company; Twelfth Night with the Play Outside Festival; and Snake In Fridge with the Themantics Group.  Favorite roles regionally include: Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival; Walt in The Threepenny Opera and a wacked-out Messenger in Scapin with the New Repertory Theatre; as well as many others.  In the summer of 2006, Matthew acted in the independent film The Weekend, produced by The Dream Factory, and he has done numerous cartoon voiceovers for 4Kids Productions.  As a director, Matthew has overseen productions of The House of Blue Leaves, The Zoo Story, Of Mice and Men, and Without a Song, an original script he also wrote.  Matthew is a member of Actor’s Equity.

Playwright

Playwright Barton Bishop was recently tapped by The Dramatist magazine as "One of 50 To Watch." His short play Things Fall (Meanwhile) was commissioned and performed last year as part of Keen Company's Keen Teens. He made his NY debut in 2004 with God's Daughter (Abingdon Theatre). Bishop earned an MFA from NYU's Department of Dramatic Writing, where he received the Harry Kondeleon Graduate Playwriting Award. Other recent honors include the Witter Bynner Fellowship with the Abingdon Theatre Company, the Holloway Playwright in Residence Fellowship at the University of South Florida, and the Handel Fellowship in Playwrighting. He is author of Still the River Runs, Up Up Down Down, bloodrust, Peaceful Easy, bliss, God's Daughter, Graduation Day, The Great Who Knows, The Amphibian Song, and The Complex. His work has been commissioned by Florida Stage, and read and produced in New York, Los Angeles, Montana, and Florida, where he was a three-time winner of the Florida Playwrights Process award.

Steve French

Company Member

Associated Artist / Designer

A proud native of Guelph Ontario Canada, Andrew is thankful for his family, friends and mentors that have provided invaluable guidance and encouragement. With Zootopia Theatre Company he has designed the set for Professional Skepticism, lighting for Still the River Runs, and both set and lighting for Eminene.  Other selected credits include: Lighting design The Passion of Winnie, composed by Bongani Ndodana-Breen, libretto by Warren Wilensky (Isabel Bader Theatre, Toronto), Set and lighting design The Polished Hoe by Colin Taylor in collaboration with Alison Sealy Smith (Frank Collymore Hall, Bridgetown Barbados), Set and lighting design for Crave by Sarah Kane (Centre Stage, NYC), Lighting design for Lion in the Streets by Judith Thompson (Abingdon Theatre, NYC), Lighting design, Québecité composed by D.D. Jackson, libretto by George Elliott Clarke (River Run Centre, Guelph Ontario), Andrew is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with an MFA in Design for Stage and Film.