Matthew Romantini

As a creator and artist, Matthew Romantini (he/they) works in theatre, dance, and with orchestral ensembles across the continent, as well as in film/tv, voice, prosthetics and motion capture. Most recently, he has been seen starring in Expandido Theatre Group’s The Rage of Narcissus at Theatre Passe Muraille, in two new short films, and jumping on a bed in a Sleep Country ad.

He has been nominated for and won several awards (nominations for 5 Dora Mavor Moore Awards in total). He has also been nominated for the Total Theatre Award at the Edinburgh Fringe (for Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble’s interdisciplinary “theatre of music” work Just Out of Reach), and the CTC Award in Vancouver (winning best production for Ghostlight Projects’ The Boys in the Band), and has been nominated for the KM Hunter Award

In addition to The Rage of Narcissus, notable productions include Michael in The Boys in the Band (Ghostlight Projects); Phillips in April 14, 1912, MacBeth in Birnam Wood and Peter in Peter and the Wolf (Theatre Rusticle); co-creator and performer in Gorey Story, everyone but Peer in Peer Gynt starring Susan Coyne, and the solo work Waiting for the Dawn (The Thistle Project); Sunyata, and To-Morrow and To-Morrow with Kokoro Dance, and Crumbling, with choreography commissioned by Kokoro’s Artistic Director, Barbara Bourget; as well as directing 10 Nights of Dream (TomoeArts); and for Randolph College, Unity (1918), The Government Inspector, and Peer Gynt. Matthew also played Albert in the creature feature Silent Retreat, which won the Best Canadian Feature in the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, and is available on Amazon Prime.

Matthew cut his teeth as a competitive figure skater, and attended The College of the Humanities at Carleton University before graduating from the Acting Conservatory at York University. He then attended the 5-week National Voice Intensive, trained in Butoh with Kokoro Dance in Vancouver, and became a certified Batdorf Technique instructor in 2018 (an acting technique that focuses on deep physiological awareness to create and repeat compelling and authentic emotional states, with a focus on the long term mental health of the artist). He teaches this work at Randolph College for the Performing Arts. He also runs a parallel private wellness practice, based in somatics and yoga therapy to help people with movement repatterining, pain reduction, and improvement of performance in physical activity.

Overall, Matthew’s main hope as an actor, director, dancer, choreographer and creator is to create and contribute to works that are meaningful, and help people understand themselves and the world in a fuller, more nuanced, and compassionate way.