Born and raised in Perth Western Australia, Matthew Marshall graduated from the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) Production & Design course in 2000. He is now recognised as one of Australia's most experienced and versatile lighting designers, with over 25 years working across theatre, opera, dance, festivals, installations and events.
Matthew has designed for most of Australia’s major producing companies and festivals including Opera Australia, Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir, Bell Shakespeare, Queensland Ballet, West Australian Ballet, Black Swan State Theatre Company, Sydney Dance Company, Musica Viva, Griffin Theatre, Ensemble Theatre, Performing Lines, Marrugeku, Monkey Baa, Big hART and Legs On The Wall. He is a regular collaborator on flagship festivals such as Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Perth Festival, Brisbane Festival, Darwin Festival, Dark Mofo and WOMADelaide.
Internationally, Matthew’s work has been presented at major venues and festivals including Oper Leipzig, Kampnagel Festival Hamburg, Festspiele Ludwigshafen, Barbican Centre, Roundhouse London, Southbank Centre, Edinburgh Fringe, Le Manège & L’Espal – Scène Nationale, Concertgebouw Bruges and Teatro Central in Seville. His designs have toured extensively throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States and New Caledonia.
In the United States, Matthew’s production's of THE BARBER OF SEVILLE & CINDERELLA have had multiple seasons with Seattle Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, & San Diego Opera. His long-running Cinderella (with director Lindy Hume) continues to play internationally and has remained in repertoire at Oper Leipzig since 2016. Other US productions include TCHAIKOVSKY (Tulsa Ballet) & BAND OF MAGICIANS (Tropicana Casino Las Vegas).
Recent main stage credits include THE 39 STEPS (Gooding/Woodward Productions), TRIPLE BILL (Queensland Ballet), THE FAIRY QUEEN (Pinchgut Opera), DIDO & AENEAS (Opera Queensland/Opera Australia), GATSBY AT THE GREEN LIGHT (Sydney Opera House/Caper & Crow/Brisbane Festival), THE CHILDREN (Black Swan State Theatre Company), IL TABARRO (Sydney Festival/Victorian Opera), DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN (Opera Australia), LE COMTE ORY, COSI FAN TUTTE, THE UNRULY TOURISTS, MACBETH, THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, TURN OF THE SCREW (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), WINTERREISE (Musica Viva), DARK MOFO NIGHT MASS (DarkLab), MARY STUART (Perth Festival/Performing Lines), JAMES GALEA'S BEST TRICK EVER (Sydney Opera House), CITY OF LIGHTS (Perth Festival), Tim Minchin's THE ABSENCE OF YOU music video, 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).
Matt’s hit production VELVET (Organised Pandemonium), created in 2015 has toured globally and sailed the high seas on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Jewel & Breakaway ships. Its re-imagined companion work VELVET REWIRED premiered in the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent at Adelaide Fringe 2020 before touring nationally.
Matthew’s installation and event designs include PARRTJIMA FESTIVAL OF LIGHT (Grumpy Sailor/We Are Gather), ART & ABOUT (City of Sydney), THE DOMAIN (Sydney Festival) including Triple J’s 40th Birthday BEAT THE DRUM, BEAT BOX a light show installation at Dream World on the Gold Coast (DJB Worldwide Events) and BVLGARI’s 130th anniversary showcase in Sydney (Rizer Events).
Design highlights THIS IS OUR YOUTH starring film star’s Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin and Emily Barclay (Sydney Opera House Presents) and BILLY ELLIOT which opened Auckland Theatre Company's ASB WATERFRONT THEATRE. A meeting with musician Tim Finn led to designing his farewell tour THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TIM FINN (Live Nation) & TIM FINN PLAYS ESCAPADE (Empire Touring) across Australia and New Zealand.
His work has been recognised with two Helpmann Awards nominations for Best Lighting Design (2012 and 2017), multiple Australian Production Design Guild Award nominations, and the Good Design Awards Gold and Best in Class in 2025 for Parrtjima Festival of Light.
Matthew is also a respected educator and mentor, teaching at WAAPA and NIDA, and internationally at the Sharjah Performing Arts Academy SPAA (UAE). He served as an Awards Judge for the Australian Production Design Guild from 2017–2025.
Upcoming projects include GATSBY @ THE GREEN LIGHT (Sydney Opera House), a national tour of A WINTERS JOURNEY (Musica Viva), a new opera MORGONSTJÄRNAN (THE MORNING STAR) at the Finnish National Opera directed by Thomas de Mallet Burgess, PROMISES & WILD BEASTS (Perth Festival), and THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (New Zealand Opera).