Zoey Zimmerman

COMPANY DIRECTOR

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY / TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Zoey (M.F.A. Yale School of Drama) is a theater director and acting coach with 35 years of experience specializing in both classical and contemporary theater.  She brings to The Riot Stage her long history of teaching, adapting, and directing Shakespeare in numerous settings, including a 26-year stint at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, CA.  Her multifaceted approach incorporates detailed text work (including scansion) as well as the acting techniques of Michael Chekov, Meisner, Uta Hagen, Stanislavski and others.   Devoted to the Bard, Zoey forefronts how the tools and tricks of acting Shakespeare apply to ALL genres, from modern theater and film acting to the ancient Greeks.  Her teaching style is nurturing, compassionate, playful, and high energy, with an ever-present rigor around technique and achieving a “personal best” for each student.  Highly collaborative, artistic processes are understood as avenues of self-esteem.  She has a special interest in exploring social and earth justice themes on stage, and asks of her students to always consider what they are in service of with their art.   

In addition to acting, Zoey teaches improvisation, playwriting, and directing.  She works with teens, adults, and children, from novice to professional.  As a writer / adapter, her reimagining of Kenneth Graham’s “The Wind in the Willows” (pub. Playscripts, Inc.) has been produced throughout the USA and internationally.

  • EDUCATION

    M.F.A., Acting / Yale University, School of Drama / B.A., Dramatic Arts / Centre College /

    EMPLOYMENT

    Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences, Santa Monica, CA Middle & Upper School Theater Faculty / Middle School Theater Coordinator, Taught 6th – 12th grade acting, playwriting, improvisation, and directing classes in addition to directing shows (see production list below). KIDS ON STAGE, Santa Monica / Adapter / Director: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Rice / Webber) COMMUNITY ARTS, Paris, KY / Taught five-week summer acting / writing workshop for students 11 – 17 years old.

    PUBLICATIONS

    The Wind in the Willows (from Graham’s novel) Adapted for the stage and published by Playscripts, Inc. with 23 productions world-wide. https://www.playscripts.com/play/1467

Samantha Leeds

   FOUNDER / CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Samantha Leeds is a dynamic 14-year-old student from Crossroads High School with a passion for Shakespeare and a vision for revolutionizing the way it’s experienced by modern audiences. As a middle school student, Samantha helped lead her team to victory at the Drama Teachers Association of Southern California (DTASC) Shakespeare Festival, earning first place honors in the competition two years in a row. Her standout performances as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth were a testament to her bourgeoning talent and an unusually mature approach to the material, which she credits to equisite direction from Zimmerman, her teacher and mentor. Samantha's recent commercial credits include lead roles in two TV ads for Shakey's Pizza and a national politcal campaign.

THE RIOT STAGE: ORGIN STORY

In 2023, after Zimmerman retired from her full-time position as an esteemed drama teacher at Crossroads, the school’s participation in the DTASC festival was paused. Samantha was disapointed but undeterred. She soon channeled her love for Shakespeare and her innate creativity into founding The Riot Stage, a cutting-edge theater company designed to make Shakespeare accessible, exciting, and relevant for today’s teens and the broader West L.A. community; a community replete with theater goers who make a living in the Entertainment Indsustry and expect a high level of engagement and a standard of professionalism in the content they consume. With this in mind, Samantha knew the key to making her start-up Shakespeare company a success would be recruiting her Shakespeare "guru" to serve as the company director. And so, in the fall of 2024, Samantha and Zoey reunited to form the Westside's premier Shakespeare theater company, The Riot Stage. 

The Riot Stage is not just about performing the classics; it’s about reimagining them, fusing modern themes with Shakespeare’s timeless stories, and creating performances that are interactive, immersive, and embued with the rebellious spirit of London's original Globe Theater. Samantha’s vision encourages audiences to be active participants, much like the rowdy crowds of Shakespeare’s time, bringing a new level of energy and engagement to each of The Riot Stage's productions.