Tim McGarry (Australian actor/playwright)

McGarry was born in the inner Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst and grew up mostly in Sydney’s southern suburbs. For a short period of his childhood he lived in the NSW town of Cootamundra. The fourth of five children, he went to St Patrick’s, Kogarah and Sacred Heart Cootamundra, and completed high school at Marist College Kogarah. [1]

McGarry began his career on the stage at the age of 13 with amateur theatre groups around Sydney. He moved to Perth in 1985 to study theatre at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. He made his professional debut in the WA State Theatre Company’s production of The [Sentimental Bloke]. In 1989 he toured nationally in Gordon Frost’s Production of Big River – The Musical. He performed and toured extensively for the Wollongong based company Theatre South, and in 1997, along with Eva Di Cesare and Sandra Eldridge, founded Monkey Baa Theatre Company. The company was incorporated in 2005. Between 2005-2017 Tim was a Co-Creative Director and Producer and Monkey Baa became one of Australia’s largest touring companies for young audiences. During his tenure the company developed over 25 new Australian plays, including Thursday’s Child, Hitler’s Daughter, I Am Jack, Goodbye Jamie Boyd, toured theatre and workshops nationally and international, performing to in excess of 1.2 million young people and their families.

In 2008 McGarry was one of three Australian’s selected by ASSITEJ the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (a global network for professionals, making work for children and young audiences) to take part in a three year international leadership program which saw him partake in theatre laboratories, forums and festivals in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Japan.

In 2009 McGarry co-adapted and performed the one man show "I am Jack" in over 450 performances touring extensively through Australia. In 2014 he toured the work to 17 cities throughout the USA and was interviewed by the writer Vivian Kirkfield on the subject of bullying which was the theme of the show.[2]

In 2016 he co adapted and directed Li Cunxin’s The Peasant Prince, a critically acclaimed production, winning multiple awards, A review in Australian Stage by Richard Cotter praised the writing. "Keeping the script splendidly simple and supple, writing collaborators Eva Di Cesare, Sandie Eldridge and Tim McGarry create a fluid framework [3]

McGarry was instrumental in developing and presenting The Sydney Opera House’s Inaugural Digital Outreach Program – co-writing and co-hosting the live feed into hundreds of regional and remote Australian classrooms reaching thousands of remote students and their teachers.

In 2018, along with his other Monkey Baa co-founders, Eva Di Cesare and Sandra Eldridge, he received a Sydney Theatre Award for 20 years of excellence and extraordinary service to the children and young people of Australia.

Also in 2018 McGarry was commissioned by Queensland Theatre to adapt [Trent Dalton]’s best-selling novel '"Boy Swallows Universe". The work had its world premiere, at the 2021 Brisbane Festival, and performed to sell out houses. The Guardian review said "Boy Swallows Universe, adapted for the stage by Tim McGarry, is a gritty, raucous, and mystical juggernaut of a play that prosecutes a booming argument for the supremacy of the live theatre experience”.[4] and the play broke box office records [5]

In 2020 Tim was interviewed by Alice Nguyen about his stage adaptation of Margaret Wild and Jane Tanner’s picture book, “There’s A Sea In My Bedroom as part of the “When I was Little’’ series [6]

For film and television he has appeared in ABC’s Rake, All Saints, Home and Away, Underbelly-The Golden Mile, A More Fortunate Life, Hacksaw Ridge, Lilian’s Story, Manny, Goddess of 1967. He has recently appeared in the Netflix comedy series Wellmania as Stephen Rogers (Episode 1)

His adaptation of Colleen McCullough’s novel Tim is currently touring NSW as of 2023, with a national tour planned for 2025.[7]

McGarry has sat on the MEAA’s National Performers Committee, the board of Arts on Tour Ltd, and the Sydney Arts Management Advisory Group (SAMAG).

McGarry’s partner is Dr. Derek Wilding, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney. McGarry has two daughters and a stepson and they reside in Sydney.

A number of McGarry’s adaptations have been published including:

2007 Jackie French’s Hitler’s Daughter – Currency Press

2010 Morris Gleitzman’s Worry Warts - Playlab Press

2011 Sonya Hartnett’s Thursday’s Child

2015 Jackie French’s Pete The Sheep – Currency Press

2018 Li Cunxin’s The Peasant Prince – Currency Press

2022 Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe – Harper Collins/Fourth Estate

2023 Colleen McCullough’s Tim – Currency Press

2007 - WINNER Helpmann Awards for Hitler's Daughter (Writer)

2010 - WINNER Helpmann Awards for Thursday's Child (Writer)

2010 - WINNER Sydney Glug Award - FOX (Writer)

2015 - Nomination Helpmann Award Pete the Sheep (Writer)

2016 - WINNER Sydney Theatre Critic’s Award Best Production for Children - The Peasant Prince, The True Story of Mao's Last Dancer (Director)

2016 - WINNER Glug Award Best Production for Children - The Peasant Prince, The True Story of Mao's Last Dancer (Director)

2016 - My Name is Asher Lev (Actor) 2016 Glug Nomination Best Independent Production

2018 - WINNER Sydney Critic’s Special Award - Recognition of Contribution to theatre for young audiences throughout Australia.

2019 - WINNER Sydney Theatre Critic’s Award Diary of A Wombat (Writer)

• Official website