Tender

Matthew Xia is the multi-award-winning Artistic Director of ATC (Actors Touring Company). He was previously Associate Artistic Director at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, (where he established OPEN EXCHANGE, an artist development scheme for over 400 next generation theatre-makers); Director-in-Residence at The Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse; and Associate Director at Theatre Royal Stratford East. He was Associate Artist at the Nottingham Playhouse alongside James Graham and Amanda Whittington.

Matthew has directed some of the UK’s most talented actors, including Daniel Kaluuya, Cynthia Erivo, Joseph Quinn, Erin Doherty, Malachi Kirby, Maxine Peake, David Haig, Samuel Barnett, Matt Henry, Karl Collins, Martina Laird, Christopher Colquhoun, and David Moorst.

Directing includes: The Harder They Come (Stratford East); Bodies of Water (ATC/GDIF); Skeleton Crew (Donmar Warehouse); The Architect (GDIF/ATC/Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation); Tambo & Bones (ATC/Theatre Royal Stratford East); the Olivier Award-winning Hey Duggee – The Live Theatre Show (Kenny Wax Family Entertainment/Cuffe & Taylor); the Fringe First Award-winning Feeling Afraid as if Something Terrible is Going to Happen (Francesca Moody Productions/Bush Theatre); Rice (ATC/Orange Tree); The Wiz (Ameena Hamid Productions/Hope Mill/BBC Big Night of Musicals); Family Tree (GDIF/ATC/Belgrade/Brixton House); 846Live (Stratford East/GDIF); Amsterdam (ATC/Orange Tree/Plymouth Theatre Royal); Blood Knot (Orange Tree); Eden (Hampstead Theatre); One Night In Miami… (Nottingham Playhouse/Bristol Old Vic/HOME); Into The Woods, Frankenstein (Royal Exchange); Wish List (Royal Exchange/Royal Court); Shebeen (Nottingham Playhouse/Stratford East); Sleeping Beauty, The Blacks (Stratford East); Dublin Carol (Sherman Theatre); Blue/Orange, The Sound of Yellow (Young Vic); Sizwe Banzi is Dead (Young Vic/Eclipse); I was looking at the ceiling and then I saw the sky (Co-Director, Stratford East/Barbican); Suckerpunch Boom Suite (Barbican/NitroBEAT).

Matthew has worked with an array of renowned writers as a director and a dramaturg, including; Suzan-Lori Parks, Dominique Morisseau, Arinze Kene, April D’Angelis, Joe Penhall, Vikki Stone, Katherine Soper, David Levi-Addai, Yasmin Joseph, Mojisola Adebayo, and Nessah Murty. He has been a respected panellist for the Evening Standard Future Fund, Yale Drama Series, the Alfred Fagon Award, BEAM, the Bruntwood Prize and most recently the Eurovision Song Contest.

DJ / Composing / Sound Design includes: presenting an award-winning Hip-Hop show on BBC 1XTRA (DJ); TheLondon Paralympics Opening Ceremony (DJ); The People Are Singing (Royal Exchange); Free Run (Underbelly); That’s The Way To Do It (TimeWontWait); Pass The Baton, Bolero Remixed (New London Orchestra); Da Boyz, Family Man, The Snow Queen, Hansel & Gretel, Medea, and Squid (Stratford East).

Matthew was a founding member of Act for Change. In 2019, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Arts London for his efforts to make theatre universally accessible by working to promote minority groups as theatre leaders, makers, and consumers.