Matt Taylor

Matt Taylor is a Tasmanian artist and the artistic director and founder of DARE Collective based in Launceston. Matt has been studying and working in the theatre industry for the past 17 years, continually finding new ways to push his training and knowledge further.

A talented actor, Matt placed inside the top seven at the national final of under 20's drama competition “Storm The Stage” in 2007 and in 2009 went on to study a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts from the University of Tasmania. After completion in 2011, he began to pursue a career in direction when he undertook a Masters Of Contemporary Arts from the University of Tasmania from 2012 – 2014.

This study was focused around audience which led him to experiment and research the theatrical style of Immersive Theatre. Through his work he was able to hone a style of Immersive Theatre that combined one-on-one personal experiences, with whole audience spectacle, which can be applied to pre-existing work as well as original material.

In 2017 he continued his study when he was accepted into the Masters of Fine Arts program at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, NSW. Here he was able to increase his knowledge of direction by learning from industry professionals from all over the world. He gained valuable experience in Devised work, Puppetry, Film Direction, Circus, Opera, Musical Theatre, Design and Olfactory/Sensory experimentation. He was lucky enough to travel to Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Berlin to view and critically analyse work of leading practitioners in the field.

Since graduation from NIDA, Matt had worked in and around Sydney before returning to Launceston, Tasmania. His work takes risks with content and style, but always plays with truths that help an audience experience a catharsis through empathy.

Matt Taylor on Immersive Theatre - 

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For me, Immersive Theatre is about energy and catharsis. It’s about ensuring that an audience member isn’t passive; or at least, that they can affect the outcome of the show, if they choose not to be passive. This show (The Chairs) thrusts the audience immediately into predetermined characters that they can choose to play or not. By playing along, the ‘Spectators’ energy shifts, from passive to active. At the same time, the actor’s energies shift, from playing opposite passive energy, to active energy. This then may affect the way the energy of the show rises or falls, depending on the way these energies react to each other.

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Coming from an acting background; my favourite thing about being on stage, is the rush of energy and adrenaline that hits you the moment you feel like you have not only transformed yourself but transformed someone else. This happens when you subconsciously feel a moment of Catharsis from a spectator. Here, the spectator can experience that adrenaline rush that leads to catharsis, which in turn may even result in the actor being transformed by the new energy, expelling their catharsis through their delivery of the text.

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Matt Taylor on The Chairs (A Theatrical Experience) -

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With Eugene Ionesco’s ‘The Chairs’, I have found it to be the perfect vehicle for this experiment. An absurdist classic with enough roles for everyone, and enough substance to experience a transformation.

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The show after all is about life, something all of us have in common. It’s about making the most of it while we can. It’s about noticing the cycle we find ourselves in and breaking it. It’s about leaving behind a legacy.

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It’s about immersive theatre.

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Break the pattern of traditional spectatorship, have fun while doing it, and grow the love for the art.

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Experience brings discovery.

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