Matthew Webb
Assistant Professor, Lighting Design
Since 2023, Matthew (Matt) Webb has led the MFA and BFA lighting programs for the School of Theatre and Dance.
As a professional lighting designer, Matt has worked with numerous regional theatre companies in his 20+ year career, including the Seattle Repertory Theatre, 5th Avenue Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Arden Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, ZACH Theatre, San Jose Rep, and many others. Matt has also created dance designs with Peridance Contemporary Dance in New York City, Atlanta’s International City School of Ballet, and the Arkansas Festival Ballet, and he mounts a yearly Nutcracker for Midland Festival Ballet in west Texas. His work has been nominated by Seattle Theater Writers, by the Syracuse Area Live Theatre Awards, and by the Memphis Ostranders, and he has been recognized three times by KC/ACTF Region IV for excellence in design.
Matt’s research centers in developing community through theatrical and dance storytelling, and he believes that a designer’s principal responsibility is to connect stories and people together. He thrives on productions that tell stories specifically for their communities, and he seeks out projects and teams that use technology as tools to connect us to the stories we need to hear. He is particularly passionate about the work of regional and resident theatres, where he’s spent much of his design career, and he also loves storytelling for youth and is most proud of his collaborations with theatre companies committed to professional productions for young audiences.
In addition to his design and teaching residencies, Matt’s career has spanned numerous other aspects of lighting production, including eight years as a resident lighting supervisor for the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and another four with ZACH Theatre in Austin. Matt also spent two years as an architectural lighting designer with Sighte Studio, a residential and commercial design firm in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, and his work with the Studio received a Citation for Urban Lighting Research from the IESNYC Lumen Awards. He's also assisted designers Duane Schuler and Paul Miller and has created video environments for productions with ZACH Theatre, Arkansas Rep, and Arden Theatre.
Prior to joining UH, Matt was on the faculty of Mississippi State University (his undergrad alma mater,) and he holds an MFA from the University of Washington School of Drama.