Matthew Romantini
Acting Foundations; Movement 2; VTM 4;
As a creator and artist, Matthew Romantini works in theatre, dance, and with orchestral ensembles across the continent, as well as in film/tv, voice, prosthetics and motion capture. He has been on faculty at Randolph since 2021, and has taught at York University, as well as guest contracts at the University of Toronto and Michigan State University.
He has been nominated for and won several awards (nominations for 6 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.
Notable productions include Don Pasquale at the COC, starring as Sergio in Expandido Theatre Group’s The Rage of Narcissus at Theatre Passe Muraille, 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 in 2018, became a certified Batdorf Technique instructor (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, as well as coaching and consulting on this and other acting work.
Overall, Matthew’s main hope as an actor, director, dancer, choreographer, facilitator 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.
