Matthew Crider is a certified teacher with the SAFD and tenured assistant professor of acting and movement at Murray State University.  He specializes in Suzuki, clowning, and stage combat.  At Murray State, he has coordinated multiple guest artist SPT workshops, written grants to expand the stage combat armory, and published on Title IX and A.D.A issues in stage combat classrooms.  He has also presented as the Southeast Theatre Conference several times on stage combat, stage combat training for stage managers, and clowning.  

Previously, he taught voice and movement at the University of Wisconsin: Stevens Point. He is an alumnus of Brandeis University, where he spent three years as both student and staff.  Under the master Suzuki Method teachers Erik Hill and Adrianne Krstansky, Matthew intensively studied movements of the body on stage, and continued his work of Suzuki Method actor training under Monica Vinao and E. Grey Simons III. Along with this, Matthew has been an active fight choreographer and combat performer. Matthew has studied under Society of American Fight Directors teachers such as Robert Walsh, Chuck Coyl, and Geof Alm. He has worked on choreography for productions of 'The Three Musketeers', 'Hamlet', 'As You Like It', 'Edmond', and an original adaptation of the Chinese classic, "The Orphan of Zhao", among many others. As an actor, Matthew has performed with the Berkshire Theatre Festival, The Hippodrome State Theater, and Double Edge Theatre Company. His favorite roles include Matamore ('The Illusion'), D'Artagnan ('The Three Musketeers'), The ducal brothers Frederick and Senior ('As You Like It'), and Jacob Marley ('A Christmas Carol'). Matthew has instructed at Brandeis University, Commonwealth Shakespeare in Boston, the award-winning outreach program H.I.T.T. with the Hippodrome State Theater, the University of Florida, and has been a coach/director for many professional improv companies. He received his MFA in acting from Brandeis University, and his BFA in acting from the University of Florida. He remains a fairly rabid Florida Gator football fan.