They Saw a Thylacine - Human Animal Exchange

Overview

The very last Thylacine, better known as the Tasmanian Tiger, died in a zoo in Hobart in September 1936. Almost eight decades later, Justine Campbell and Sarah Hamilton tell the tale of its extinction. Inspired in part by Hamilton's great-aunt and her famous photograph of one of the last Tasmanian Tigers in captivity, I Saw a Thylacine tells the story of two women — one the daughter of a zookeeper, the other a thylacine tracker — as they reflect on how the elusive animal influenced their lives.

Campbell and Hamilton both wrote and star in the production, which has enjoyed no shortage of acclaim since it first debuted at the 2013 Melbourne Fringe Festival. In particular, critics have commended the play for the attention it gives to the experiences of Australian women during the 1930s.