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 23 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, The 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.
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 GATSBY AT THE GREEN LIGHT (Sydney Opera House/Caper & Crow), IL TABARRO (Victorian Opera) an outdoor opera for Sydney Festival, the world's first digital Der Ring des Nibelungen - THE RING CYCLE (Opera Australia), COSI FAN TUTTE, THE UNRULY TOURISTS & MACBETH (New Zealand Opera/Auckland Arts Festival), CHORUS! (Opera Australia), VIGIL: AWAKEN (Sydney Festival), VELVET REWIRED (Organised Pandemonium), OIL (Black Swan State Theatre Company), MACBETH (New Zealand Opera), 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, CINDERELLA (Seattle Opera), TURN OF THE SCREW (New Zealand Opera), a new full length ballet TCHAIKOVSKY (Tulsa Ballet), 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), THE BARBER OF SEVILLE (Seattle Opera), CARMEN (Oper Leipzig), CLUB SWIZZLE (Roundhouse London), LA CENERENTOLA (Oper Leipzig, San Diego Opera).
Matt’s dazzling design for VELVET (Organised Pandemonium) created in 2015 has sailed the high seas on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Jewel & Breakaway ships and opened a second incarnation VELVET REWIRED in the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent at Adelaide Fringe 2020 with a 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), BAND OF MAGICIANS (Tropicana Casino Las Vegas) 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) with Vivid Sydney creative director Ignatious Jones, 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 in private residence “Carthona” at Darling Point as well as numerous product launches, gala dinners, awards nights and VIP functions.
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 and the Royal Swedish Opera.
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, and recently has 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 - 2023.
Upcoming designs include THE BARBER OF SEVILLE (Seattle Opera), LE COMPTE ORY (New Zealand Opera), THE BARBER OF SEVILLE (Des Moines Metro Opera) and THE CHILDREN (Black Swan State Theatre Company).