JULIAN LARNACH

​Writer

Julian Larnach is a Sydney-based playwright and screenwriter. He is Literary Associate at Griffin Theatre Company.

​Julian’s theatrical adaptation of Favel Parrett’s novel PAST THE SHALLOWS, premiered in Sydney and Hobart in a co-production with Archipelago Productions and ATYP in 2022. The play won six Tasmanian Theatre Awards including Best Production and Best New Writing and will tour nationally in 2024. It was developed into a feature film directed by Ben Winspear and starring Marta Dusseldorp premiering at Ten Days on the Island Festival to critical acclaim. His new play HOW TO VOTE, commissioned by Canberra Youth Theatre, premiered at the Playhouse at Canberra Theatre Centre in 2022. He is currently working on new plays for Griffin Theatre Company, Australian Theatre for Young People and Bell Shakespeare.

Julian’s other plays include: FLIGHT PATHS which premiered at National Theatre of Parramatta; IN REAL LIFE which premiered at Darlinghurst Theatre Company; and his musical FOLK SONG which premiered at Outback Theatre for Young People. Julian won the Emerge: Riverina Playwright’s Commission and the commissioned play, BENEATH AN OXBOW LAKE, premiered in Griffith then went on to a sold-out regional tour and season at ATYP in Sydney. 

​His plays have been shortlisted for Griffin Theatre Company’s Lysicrates Prize, the Griffin Award for Playwriting, the Edward Albee Scholarship and the PWA Re-Gen Seed Commission. He was a member of Sydney Theatre Company's inaugural Emerging Writers Group from 2017 – 2019; an Affiliate Writer for Griffin Theatre Company; and Resident Playwright at the Australian Theatre for Young People. Julian has completed creative developments for new works with Sydney Dance Company, Playwriting Australia and Griffin Theatre Company, as well as dramaturgical secondments with Belvoir and Melbourne Theatre Company. He has been generously supported by the Australia Council of the Arts, having undertaken a JUMP Mentorship and received an ArtStart grant.

Julian’s short film SAFETY NET premiered at Sydney Film Festival in 2020 and has screened at multiple film festivals in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and at cinemas around Australia, to critical acclaim. SAFETY NET is a finalist in the 2022 Screen Producers Australia Awards for Best Short Film Production and was finalist in the New Zealand International Film Festival for New Zealand’s Best Short Film. Julian is now developing SAFETY NET into a feature film funded by Screen NSW and produced by Mischief Media. He has worked in writers rooms for the ABC, Amazon Studios, Roadshow Rough Diamond and Hoodlum Entertainment.

Julian holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and International Relations from the University of Sydney, and a Graduate Diploma of Dramatic Art in Playwriting from the National Institute of Dramatic Art.