Living above the Globe Hotel when his dad was the publican in the 1970s, Tim McGarry fondly recalls one near-toothless patron.
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He and his cousin Tony would sit either side of the man they named Quacker and chat in their best Donald Duck voices.
“I wonder what he thought of us?” Tim reflects.
“He probably had an incredible story to tell- we all do!”
Next month the actor, playwright and creative director will be returning to the small town where it all began to share some of what he has learned along the way.
Tim is one of several high profile Australian artists presenting at the Dream Big festival, which will be held at The Arts Centre Cootamundra on Friday August 21.
He is looking forward to sharing his story “as someone who didn’t exactly dream big” but has enjoyed success nonetheless.
“I have to say I was a fairly shy, retiring kid who would have faded into the background at Sacred Heart Central School,” Tim concedes.
“I hadn’t developed my passion for the arts- but my very first movie experience was sneaking into an evening session of Love Story at the Coota cinema.
“I remember being so completely devastated by the power of the story.”
Something must have stuck, as Tim’s passion for storytelling took him through the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
“I, like most actors, worried if I’d ever get work. Today I long for the time to actually have a break. It’s been a roller coaster ride and I feel so incredibly lucky.”
Tim credits luck and good timing for his success, though ingenuity also certainly played a crucial role.
In 1997 Tim, Eva Di Cesare and Sandie Eldridge decided to turn Tim Winton’s book Bugalugs Bum Thief into a stage play.
That production proved the beginning of Monkey Baa Theatre Company, and they’ve since performed for 1.2 million young people nationally and overseas.
“Clearly there was a need and fate dealt us a great card,” Tim said.
From touring with Monkey Baa to taking on other challenges, what it all comes back to for Tim is storytelling.
“I am passionate about the transformative nature of the arts for all people, whether they are young, old or in-between,” he said.
“Storytelling is such a powerful tool in helping us all understand ourselves a little better and the world we live in.”
To hear from Tim and other creative entrepreneurs in Cootamundra, purchase tickets now for Dream Big 2015 at eventbrite.com.au.
