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Matt Harrup - Technician

Name:             Matt Harrup

Position:        Theatre Technician

Email:             m.a.harrup@leeds.ac.uk

Areas of Interest and Specialism

  • Lighting for Performance, including lighting design and programming.
  • The performative role of technology in performance.
  • Set Design and Construction.
  • Risk assessment

Software

  • ETC Eos Family Software for Lighting
  • QLab
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Audition
  • Audacity.

Profile

In 2012, I began my undergraduate degree in Performance Design, at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds. Whilst at University, I was involved in over 25 performances, learning technical skills to compliment my degree study. I worked most extensively in lighting design, rigging, and operation, but also across set design and stage management. My most notable role was working as Technical Assistant for David Shearing’s The Weather Machine, a project which later exhibited at World Stage Design 2017. I also worked for 2 years as a Duty Manager at stage@leeds.

Further to my involvement in theatre, I spent much of my University career volunteering with Leeds Marrow, a student run subsidiary of UK charity Anthony Nolan. As Clinic Coordinator, I planned and ran recruitment events across the University, coordinating teams of up to 50 volunteers at each event. I was later nominated as Vice President & Fundraising Lead in my final year.

Immediately after completing my degree in 2015, I began work at Opera North alongside their Technical Department. As well as holding a number of administrative duties, I was actively involved backstage, working on the set constructions for Kiss Me, Kate and Pleasure. I also worked with the Education and Projects departments - touring installations and small-scale productions to venues such as The Lowry, Southbank Centre, and Soho Theatre. I continue to work with the company today, on a casual basis, most recently assisting with the rehearsal room set build for Street Scene.

Between 2015 and 2018, I worked as a Lighting Designer with emerging theatre company Forget About the Dog and enjoyed a successful run at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with their original production The Life and Times of Lionel. I then went on to design for their second show 100 Ways to Tie a Shoelace but ended work with the company ahead of their successful 2019 tour.

In 2017 I returned to stage@leeds and the University of Leeds, to start work in my current role as a Theatre Technician in the School of PCI. I am a multi-skilled technician, working predominantly in lighting, but also in set design and construction, sound, and AV. Whilst at the University, I have worked externally as a technician for Love Arts Festival and as a lighting designer for Devika Dance Theatre - as well as continuing to work quietly in the background on my own projects. In 2018, I co-wrote and produced Talking Moving Heads with Hannah Baxter-Gale, an original live performance focused on using moving light technology and recorded audio dialogue. In 2019, I designed the lighting for It’s a Jungle out There, a stage@leeds installation for Leeds Light Night. On top of my regular duties at the University, I co-host an annual introductory lecture on Risk Assessment for first year students, and frequently consult on the subject for performances held at stage@leeds. I am a certified first aider, and fire warden for the School of PCI.