Matthew Harrison

Matthew Harrison is the son of former UV President, Supreme Court Justice and General Becka Harrison, who led the coup against General Altman and restored delicacy in UV. He was born in 1991, and was 13 at the time of the coup.

During his high school and college years, Matthew intentionally avoided anything related to politics, the military or the sciences - fields associated with his mother and late father. Instead, he graduated college in 2013 with a degree in English language literature.

He worked various service sector jobs until he earned a teaching certificate in 2017 and began teaching high school English. In 2020, his first one act play opened at an off-circuit theater in Arland. Since then, several of his works have been performed, allowing him to become a full-time playwright in 2024.

His newest work is a musical entitled “The Coup,” written in collaboration with UV pop star Isidore. It tells the story of the 2004 coup through the eyes of several young people caught up in the multi-sided conflict. One of the main characters is the daughter of an Upper Virginian General inside the regime, who fights against the coup to the very end. Her big number is a solo entitled, “I’m Not My Name”. Other leads include the son of a Directorate of Justice official, who turns on the regime once the coup is launched, and the daughter of a clandestine supporter of the FVLA, which is responsible for a bombing that kills a mutual friend’s parents. They sing a duet called, “Blind Eyes Opened". Other characters include the son of a factory worker, the daughter of a shop clerk, and a street kid who together sing “Does the Sea Really Change?” after Becka Harrison’s interim government is announced near the end of the show.

A preview showing took place in Ghish, and the world premier followed in Hartstad.