A tantalisingly playful voice.
The Scottish Herald
Tobias Manderson-Galvin is unstoppable
The Age
Playful, thoughtful, scattered, indulgent, and gloriously obnoxious… Absolutely irresistible.
Daily Review
Tobias Manderson-Galvin is an Australian multidisciplinary artist whose work includes playwriting, direction, scenography, live art, installation, site-specific performance, durational performance, and critical writing. He is best known for his continuing work as Co-Director General of climate activist performance company Doppelgangster and as artistic director of Melbourne’s MKA Theatre of New Writing.
Since 2004 Tobias has been the subject of investigations by the Australian Federal Police, due in no small part to some bad performance poetry. His first touch of public infamy came about in playing a combination of Adolf Hitler and David Hasselhoff, in Tom Doig’s stage work Hitlerhoff. He again found himself in the unforgiving public eye for subversive political thriller The Economist – a response to the Utoya Island massacre of 2011. His practice routinely troubles the capitalist myths of scarcity, stability, and freedom; the responsibility of authority; and the potential of performance as a site of political action.
Tobias currently spends his days sleeping and his nights writing scripts which you may read should you ask. Tobias’ writing has been awarded with the 2012 RE Ross Trust Playwrights’ Prize, and the 2009 St Martins National Young Playwriting Award. He holds a Master of Writing for Performance from the Victorian College of the Arts (University of Melbourne, 2013).
Tobias has collaborated with companies including Black Lung Theatre & Whaling Firm, JazzParty, Ben Ely (Regurgitator), BalletLab, and Melbourne Theatre Company. As a freelance performer, guest artist, mentor, workshop leader, and arts consultant, Tobias work has been developed with Sheffield Theatres, La Générale Paris, Union House Theatre, Playback Melbourne, Canberra Youth Theatre, World Theatre Festival, National Young Writers Festival, Crack Theatre Festival, You Are Here Festival, Next Wave Festival, and many independent venues and artists.
His work has been presented publicly by institutions and festivals including; the Melbourne Theatre Company, Traverse Theatre Scotland, Brisbane Powerhouse, Experimentica, RCC, and Provocare Festival of the Arts.
His work as a producer and arts manager has been awarded together with his MKA colleague Glyn Roberts, with a 2012 Green Room Award for Special Contribution to Independent Theatre, noted as one of the ’21 Hot Young Theatre Makers’ of 2013 by Crikey’s Daily Review, a winner of an inaugural national ArtsHub Award for ‘MKA: Theatre of New Writing – Season One 2011’, and in 2014-15, Tobias was awarded an ArtStart grant from the Australia Council of the Arts to travel to the UK, Europe and Korea.
Manderson-Galvin has been featured in publications including; The Age, The Australian, Daily Review, The Music, Audrey Journal, Beat Magazine, Witness Performance, RealTime Magazine.
