Matthew B. Cullen
Theatre Generator, Facilitator, Curator
Matthew B. Cullen
Theatre Generator, Facilitator, Curator
Matthew B. Cullen
Theatre Director & Administrator
About MBC
Matthew B. Cullen (he/they, él/elle) is a theatre director and administrator born in Bogotá, Colombia, adopted, then raised in Buffalo, NY. They are currently based in Brooklyn. He views his work as generating, facilitating, and curating.
Their work is focused on disrupting oppressive and harmful practices by centering health, equity, and community in his process. The goal is collective liberation by investing in the process over the product. To learn more about their process, check out The Ground Work!
Matthew gravitates towards developing new works, where the bulk of his directing credits lay. New works lay the foundation for the next generation of theatre artists. To break away from the harmful White American Theatre, artists must invest in the development of new material. He has studied directing under U.K. directors Robert Icke and Lyndsey Turner. Matthew has been recently selected to join Wingspace Theatrical Design's Mentorship Program as their Directing Mentee for 2023-2024.
Recently, Matthew began at the Vineyard Theatre as the Lin-Manuel Miranda Family General Management Fellow where he serves as Company Manager and COVID Safety Officer while assisting the General Manager and Managing Director. The first show of their season, SCENE PARTNERS by John J. Caswell Jr, directed by Rachel Chavkin begins previews on October 26th.
This past summer, they had their second contract with Chautauqua Theater Company where he started as Assistant Company Manager and took over as Company Manager. Additionally, they are the Social Media Intern for a new bilingual musical, AZUL. Matthew previously worked on AZUL's sold out shows at both 54 Below and Joe's Pub. Past affiliations include Irish Classical Theatre Company (Directing Apprentice), Latiné Musical Theatre Lab (Artistic Associate), KMEntertainment (Operations and Logistics Manager), Disruptive Compassion: A Table Reading Series (Founder), and Main Street Studios (Artistic Intern).
Oh ya, he has mustache now. He's kept it much longer than he anticipated...
Investing In a Process Focused Practice
What's goin' on with MBC:
Summer In Chautauqua:
Matthew returned to Chautauqua Theater Company as assistant company manager and COVID safety offier in June. At the end of July, he took over as company manager. There, Matthew worked alongside playwrights Harrison David Rivers, C.A. Johnson, Kate Hamill, Mike Lew, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, and Chisa Hutchinson.
Directing:
Recently, Matthew finished directing a virtual workshop of FACIL A by Maria Arreola in association with the San Fransisco Bay Area Theater Company.
He is now a Wingspace Theatrical Design Directing Mentee.
Senior Thesis:
Matthew has written his thesis, rooted in the work of Dominique Morisseau and Erika Dickerson-Despenza, which explores and challenges audience etiquette in the American theatre. The title of the paper is "Reconstructing Theatre Etiquette: Investing in the Liberation of the Audience Engagement Experience".
He is working on creating a hybrid public offering.