[ matthew marshall ]

With a strong grounding in the performing arts in high school and the West Australian Youth Theatre Company, Matt went on to top the state in all his performing arts subjects, winning a highly commended medal in the 1997 Quest for Excellence and 1998 Performing Arts Perspectives.

After completing high school, Matt then went on to study at the West Australian Academy of Performing Artsunder the tuition of acclaimed lighting designer Mark Howett. Matt graduated from WAAPA in 2000 with an Advanced Diploma in Performing Arts Production & Design. In January 2001 Matt worked alongside Mark Howett at Opera Australia for the production of Il Trovatore at the Sydney Opera House.

Since completion of his training in 2000, Matt has gained experience in many different aspects of lighting and video within the performing arts industry. Matt works in a variety of different areas including lighting design, video design, technical direction and as tour manager. He has toured with shows around Australia and overseas including The Sleeping Beauty on Ice (International Concert Attractions), Why Kids? (Henri Szeps), Quartet (Agelink), Shadow of the Eagle (Perth Theatre Company), The Simple Truth (Black Swan Theatre Company), X Stacy (BSTC), Educating Rita (BSTC), The Drawer Boy (BSTC), The Career Highlights of the Mamu (BSTC) & Leaves Falling @ Midnight (The Glynn Nicholas Comapny).

His main passion as a lighting designer hasbeen showcased most recently in lighting designs for Life x3 directed by Lindy Hume for Black Swan Theatre, St Nicholas, The Goat and Bombshells for Perth Theatre Company Candide directed by Lindy Hume for Perth Festival 06, The Retreat From Moscow directed by Mark Kilmurry and The Violet Hour directed by Kate Gaul both for Ensemble Theatre and for Griffin Theatre the Louis Nowra trilogy of A Woman With Dogs Eyes(04), The Marvellous Boy(05) and The Emperor of Sydney(06) directed by David Berthold.

Other design works include the 2004, 2005, 2006 Perth Festival Village and opening events, Behind The Red Curtain with Baz Luhrmann @ Fox Studios, Australia Day Oz Concert 2004 & 2006 at Government House Gardens Perth (broadcast on SBS television), Slamming by Camilla Rountree for Sydney Festival 2005, A Man With Five Children directed by Peter Kingston and Merry Go Round in the Sea directed by Andrew Ross with Black Swan Theatre Company, Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) the 50th Anniversary closing event for the 2003 Perth International Arts Festival directed by Neill Gladwin and Alcina for the Australian Opera Studio directed by Gregory Yurivich @ His Majesty's Perth .

Video work has included graphics for St Matthew Passion directed by Lindy Hume for PIAF 05, the 2003 PIAF opening performance Karl Karniny under the direction of David Milroy with Yirra Yaakin Noongar Theatre and his most memorable production so far as video designer for Black Swan Theatre’s epic ‘The Career Highlights of the Mamu’ at the 2002 Adelaide Festival and its subsequent tours including the Laokoon Festival in Hamburg, Germany.

Matt's most challenging moment has been the tour of The Sleeping Beauty on Ice with The Imperial Icestars - a group of Russian and German Ice Skaters performing in Hong Kong  and Singapore,  and the ongoing negotiations in Russian, German, English, Cantonese and Mandarin!

Upcoming projects for Matt include lighting designs for Glorious and Bombshells National Tour for Perth Theatre Company, Cinderella Dressed in Yella for Buzz Dance Company, McReele directed by Sandra Bates for Ensemble Theatre, Romeo & Juliet directed by Craig Illot for Riverside Theatres, Far Away directed by John Sheedy for Black Swan Theatre and The Red Shoes directed by Matthew Lutton for ThinIce