Sound Design for Theatre Portfolio
Matthew is a Sound Designer and Sound Artist working across theatre, music, installation, podcast and film. His diverse skills in recording and designing original sound content, experience in collaborating with composers, operators and performers and designing show playback and loudspeaker systems make for a wholistic sound design practice. Matthew also works as an Associate Sound Designer for fellow sound designers and composers.
Saint Maud
Based on the film written & directed by Rose Glass | Adapted for the stage by Jessica Andrews and Jack McNamara
With music by Gazelle Twin
A devout young nurse moves to a seaside town to care for a former dancer now terminally ill. Becoming increasingly obsessed with saving her patient’s soul, Maud falls into a spiral of self questioning that leads to a truly shocking act of faith.
"Extraordinary performance...desire, despair and 'godgasms' ...compelling adaptation." - The Guardian ★★★★
"Terrific performances and a winning creative team – Gazelle Twin, music; Matthew Tuckey, sound...contribute to an unforgettable spectacle... with a soundscape blending the horror genre’s pseudo religious playbook with all manner of unsettling thumps and thrums." - Cultured North East
"Full of flair – arresting and accomplished...alongside atmospheric sound design by Matthew Tuckey...and music by Gazelle Twin...Stylish adaptation of the cult horror film" - The Stage ★★★
Love It If We Beat Them - remount and tour 2024
Written by Rob Ward | Directed by Bex Bowsher
Produced by Emmerson and Ward Productions in association with Live Theatre
It’s Spring 1996, Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle United are riding high in the Premier League and Tony Blair’s New Labour are gathering pace. Hope is in the air and victory seems within reach.
'A smartly written drama about football, family and politics, with strong performances and stunning design' - The Stage ★★★★
Underdog: The Other Other Brontë - National Theatre transfer to Northern Stage
Associate Sound Designer (transfer)
Sound Design and Additional Music by Alexandra Faye Braithwaite
Directed by Natalie Ibu
The Bounds
Written by Stewart Pringle | Directed by Jack McNamara
A Live Theatre and Royal Court co-production
The year is 1553, the true Golden Age of English football. It’s the Allen Valley Whitsun Game, and men will die today.
Time passes. Night falls. The great chain of being collapses. And they’re losing the bloody football.
The Bounds is a darkly comedic tale of national divides, folk horror and the end of the world as we know it.
"Twisty, clever delight... A lush soundscape by Matthew Tuckey provides a backdrop to Verity Quinn’s set (strikingly lit by Drummond Orr), which erupts from the splintered stage” - The Stage ★★★★
"The gear shift from virtual comedy to something approaching folk horror is elegantly handled by Jack McNamara's production, abetted by some eerie ambient sound design from Matthew Tuckey that gives the long cold night an unsettling 'alive' quality." - Time Out
"The impact of Jack McNamara's production is as much down to Matthew Tuckey's terrifying sound design... as it is to the captivating elliptical writing." - WhatsOnStage ★★★★
You Heard Me - Luca Rutherford
Associate Sound Designer
Sound Design and Composition by Melanie Wilson
Directed by Maria Crocker
The Queen of the North - R&D
Written and performed by Tommy | Directed by Scott Le Crass
Supported using public funding by Arts Council England and by ARC Stockton & Teesside Archives
Tommy’s gone up North to start a revolution. Queer, disabled and working-class, he’s had enough of being held back by the system, and is determined to finally tear it all down.
Colliery Boys R&D
Written and Performed by Harry Rundle | Directed by Andy Room
R&D supported by and shared at Laurels, Whitley Bay
In development. More information coming soon.
Festen
Written by David Eldridge | Directed by Ian Wooldridge
Produced by the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama
Performed by BA Acting students in the Webber Douglas Studio Theatre, March 2024.
A family gathers to celebrate.
“There have always been ghosts in this house”.
Trauma thrives in darkness.
World's Apart
Written by Elijah Young | Directed by Poppy Crawshaw
Produced by Woven Nest Theatre and Chloe Stott
Worlds Apart is a lively celebration of ageing and human resilience as 3 generations are thrown together in a household after years of living apart. Told through the eyes of a young gamer, Worlds Apart allows audiences to transcend reality through an authentic and optimistic look at unpaid care and family relationships in all their messy and marvellous glory.
Love It If We Beat Them
Written by Rob Ward | Directed by Bex Bowsher
Produced by Live Theatre in association with Emmerson and Ward Productions
Love It If We Beat Them is a new political drama that explores a time of significant change in the identity of the North East communities and perfectly captures a moment in recent history that defines who we are today.
Set against the backdrop of the infamous Premier League season when Newcastle United, almost won under the management of Kevin Keegan. It explores the questions: What is power without principle? And what are principles without power?
'A smartly written drama about football, family and politics, with strong performances and stunning design' - The Stage ★★★★
Josey, The Indignant Daughter - the digital musical R&D
A new digital musical written by Katie Doherty | Directed by Joe Hufton
Additional sound design, mixing and mastering by Andrew Cadie
Produced by November Club on commission from The Space
Josey is a new musical written by folk musician Katie Doherty inspired by the life of Northumberland born heroine, feminist and social reformer Josephine Butler.
As sound designer for this digital musical R&D, I worked closely with Katie Doherty on developing a distinct sound world that aids the storytelling and guides the process of recording and producing the studio album.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Written by Laura Lindow | Directed by Maria Crocker | Music by Katie Doherty
Produced by Northern Stage and tiny dragon productions
Every Christmas, Northern Stage combine their two main spaces, Stage 1 and Stage 2 to create the Epic Space for their seasonal alternative to the traditional pantomime. In 2021 I was invited to join the creative team in producing The Sorcerer's Apprentice which was remounted for the 2022/23 run.
Repeat Signal
A site-specific play by Tatty Hennessy | Directed by Joe Hufton
Produced by Lizzie Vogler for November Club
When two teenagers sneak into a museum at night to make a film, they find more than they bargained for.
But there’s someone – something – else in the museum tonight. Something from the past. And it’s not staying quiet.
Lost, Found and Told - New Audio Tales for Northumberland.
Writer - Fiona Ellis | Composer - Katie Doherty | Director - Cinzia Hardy
Produced by November Club
Lost, Found and Told is inspired by traditional fairy tales and draws on the rich heritage and landscape of Northumberland. Originally conceived as a live performance, Covid-19 restrictions has transformed it into an audio production. For more information, please visit the November Club website here.
'Sound Designer' describes an array of my responsibilities on this production, including: recording, editing, and mixing and mastering the dialogue, sound effects, music and ambiences. A large portion of the musical content was recorded by the Composer, Katie Doherty, with vocals, Tambur, Drums and Bodhran recorded by me.
For a brief insight to my field recording process on this project, please see the series of mini-blog posts on here.
Wolf!
Written and Devised by Kitchen Zoo | Directed by Brad McCormick | Music by Katie Doherty
Produced by Kitchen Zoo in association with Northern Stage
For under 5's and their grown ups. Initial run at Northern Stage Christmas 2019/20 followed by a UK tour.
joey
Writer - sean burn | Director - Selma Dimitrijevic
New Wolsey Theatre Testing Ground Commission, produced by gobscure in association with Greyscale
joey is a new play by sean burn touring in June 2019
Performed in English and BSL
Floorboards
Writer - Steve Byron | Director - Katy Weir
Produced by ODDMANOUT, The Worriers, and Alphabetti Theatre
"an often subtle and always effective sound design by Matthew Tuckey." - British Theatre Guide
"a pleasingly unsettling and subtly done echo of Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart throughout." - The Stage
Trolley Boy
Writer - David Raynor | Director - Ali Pritchard | Music by Roma Yagnik
Produced by Alphabetti Theatre
"a beautifully scored and impeccably timed soundtrack adds so much, almost subliminally, to the piece." - British Theatre Guide
