Born and raised in Perth Western Australia, Matthew Marshall is a graduate of the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) Production & Design course in 2000.
With 24 years of experience Matt has worked for most of the major performing arts companies and festivals in Australia including multiple shows for Adelaide Festival, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Bell Shakespeare, Belvoir, Black Swan State Theatre Company, Brisbane Festival, City of Sydney, Crown Casino Melbourne & Perth, Dark Mofo, Darwin Festival, Ensemble Theatre, Griffin Theatre, Melbourne Festival, Musica Viva Australia, Sydney Dance Company, Sydney Festival, Sydney Mardi Gras, Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney Opera House, Marrugeku, Opera Australia, Opera Queensland, Perth Festival, Pinchgut Opera, State Opera of South Australia, Victorian Opera, West Australian Ballet, West Australian Opera & WOMADelaide.
Matt's work has been seen on the international stage at Kampnagel Festival, Oper Leipzig & Festpiele Ludwigshafen in Germany. Barbican, Roundhouse & Southbank Centre in London. The Famous Spiegeltent & Magic Mirrors at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. In Europe dances pieces LE DERNIER APPEL & GUDIRR GUDIRR (Marrugeku) at Le Manège & L’Espal -Scène Nationale in France, Concertgebouw Belgium, Teatro Central Seville, Spain & the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre in Noumea, New Caledonia.
In the United States his technicolour THE BARBER OF SEVILLE has played two seasons in 2017 & 2024 (Seattle Opera) and the 2024 summer opera festival in Iowa (Des Moines Metro Opera). Other US productions include CINDERELLA (Seattle Opera & San Diego Opera), TCHAIKOVSKY (Tulsa Ballet) & BAND OF MAGICIANS (Tropicana Casino Las Vegas).
Matt has been nominated for his work twice by The Helpmann Awards for Best Lighting Design (2012, 2017) and has received multiple nominations for Best Lighting Design from the Australian Production Design Guild.
Recent designs include THE CHILDREN (Black Swan State Theatre Company), DIDO & AENEAS (Opera Queensland), THE BARBER OF SEVILLE (Seattle Opera & Des Moines Metro Opera), GATSBY AT THE GREEN LIGHT (Sydney Opera House/Caper & Crow), IL TABARRO (Sydney Festival/Victorian Opera), DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN (Opera Australia), LE COMTE ORY, COSI FAN TUTTE, THE UNRULY TOURISTS, MACBETH (New Zealand Opera), VIGIL: AWAKEN (Sydney Festival), VELVET REWIRED (Organised Pandemonium), BALLET AT THE QUARRY & GOLDBERG VARIATIONS (West Australian Ballet), EIREBOURNE (Mellen Events/Mpire), THE CROWD & I (Australian Chamber Orchestra), A WINTERS JOURNEY (Musica Viva), DARK MOFO NIGHT MASS (DarkLab), MARY STUART (Perth Festival/Performing Lines), THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (New Zealand Opera), JAMES GALEA'S BEST TRICK EVER (Sydney Opera House), CITY OF LIGHTS (Perth Festival), Tim Minchin's THE ABSENCE OF YOU music video, TURN OF THE SCREW (New Zealand Opera), LA BOHÉME the outdoor Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour (Opera Australia), AMERICAN IDIOT Australian National Tour (Shake & Stir/QPAC), ATHALIA (Pinchgut Opera), ASKUNGEN (Royal Swedish Opera), CARMEN (Oper Leipzig), CLUB SWIZZLE (Roundhouse London), LA CENERENTOLA (Oper Leipzig).
Matt’s dazzling design for VELVET (Organised Pandemonium) created in 2015 has sailed the high seas on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Jewel & Breakaway ships. A second incarnation VELVET REWIRED opened in the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent at Adelaide Fringe 2020 with an Australian tour in 2022/23.
Design highlights include HOME - the opening event of Perth International Arts Festival 2016, THIS IS OUR YOUTH starring film star’s Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin and Emily Barclay (Sydney Opera House Presents), John Adams and Peter Sellars opera A FLOWERING TREE (Perth International Arts Festival), and BILLY ELLIOT opening the new ASB WATERFRONT THEATRE (Auckland Theatre Company).
Event lighting designs include BEAT BOX a light show installation at Dream World on the Gold Coast (Dreamworld/JB Worldwide Events), THE DOMAIN (Sydney Festival 2015) including Triple J’s 40th Birthday BEAT THE DRUM celebration, ART & ABOUT (City of Sydney) transforming Martin Place in Sydney into a 1/4 acre block party, 130 YEARS OF BVLGARI (Rizer Events) a showcase of $38M worth of jewellery at the historic “Carthona” mansion in Darling Point Sydney.
Matt’s opera production of CINDERELLA (Opera Queensland) with long time collaborator Lindy Hume has played around the world including Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and the USA. It performs in repertory at Oper Leipzig since 2016.
Matt is also a mentor to Lighting Design students at both of Australia’s premier arts training institutions - NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts) in Sydney and WAAPA (West Australian Academy of Performing Arts) in Perth. He has also worked with students at SPAA (Sharjah Performing Arts Academy) in the United Arab Emirates. Matt has also been a judge for the Australian Production & Design Guild Awards from 2017 - 2024.
Upcoming designs include CHORUS! in Geelong & DIDO & AENEAS @ Sydney Opera House (Opera Australia), THE FAIRY QUEEN (Pinchgut Opera), and a new world premiere at the Finnish National Opera based on the novel by Karl Ove Knausgård. MORGONSTJÄRNAN - THE MORNING STAR.