Matthew Xia is the award-winning Artistic Director of ATC (Actors Touring Company). He was previously Associate Artistic Director at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester; Director-in-Residence at The Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse; and Associate Director at Theatre Royal Stratford East. He was an Associate Artist at the Nottingham Playhouse alongside James Graham and Amanda Whittington from 2018 – 2022.
Matthew has directed some of the UK’s most talented actors, including Daniel Kaluuya, Cynthia Erivo, Maxine Peake, David Haig, Karl Collins, Samuel Barnett, Malachi Kirby, David Moorst, Erin Doherty, and Joseph Quinn.
Directing includes TAMBO & BONES (ATC/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 (FMP/Roundabout); THE ARCHITECT (GDIF/ATC/SLDF); RICE (ATC/Orange Tree); THE WIZ (Ameena Hamid Productions/Hope Mill/BBC Big Night of Musicals), FAMILY TREE (GDIF/ATC/Belgrade/Brixton House); 846 LIVE (Theatre Royal 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 Theatre); WISH LIST (Royal Exchange Theatre/Royal Court); SHEBEEN (Nottingham Playhouse/Theatre Royal Stratford East); SLEEPING BEAUTY (Theatre Royal Stratford East); DUBLIN CAROL (Sherman Theatre); BLUE/ORANGE, THE SOUND OF YELLOW (Young Vic); SIZWE BANZI IS DEAD (Genesis Future Director Award Winner – Young Vic/Eclipse); THE BLACKS (Co-Director, Theatre Royal Stratford East); I WAS LOOKING AT THE CEILING AND THEN I SAW THE SKY (Co-Director, Theatre Royal Stratford East/The Barbican); SUCKERPUNCH BOOM SUITE (The Barbican/NitroBEAT).
Matthew has worked with an array of renowned writers as a director and a dramaturg, including Joe Penhall, Vikki Stone, Arinze Kene, April D’Angelis, 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!
As DJ Excalibah, Matthew became the first DJ to join BBC 1Xtra with his hip-hop show – aged only 19. He has played most major festivals and clubs in the UK and Europe including Glastonbury, Ministry of Sound, and Fabric. Excalibah performed for a global audience of over 3 billion as a headline DJ at the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony.
Composing/Sound Design includes THE PEOPLE ARE SINGING (Royal Exchange); FREE RUN (Underbelly); THAT’S THE WAY TO DO IT (TimeWontWait); PASS THE BATON and BOLERO REMIXED; (New London Orchestra); DA BOYZ, FAMILY MAN, THE SNOW QUEEN, HANSEL & GRETEL, MEDEA, and SQUID (Theatre Royal Stratford East).
Matthew is a founding member of Act for Change and Vice Chair at Cardboard Citizens. 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.