They Saw a Thylacine is a tale of two women who saw the last thylacines in Australia in the 1930s. While one is trying to track one down to sell it to a zoo, the other works in a zoo where one is being mistreated.
Walking into the Rehearsal Room at the Fringe Hub, one knows straightaway that they are not in for a regular piece of theatre. Seated in a cage with dry ice and a disco ball, the two women, dressed in flesh-coloured slips, eat fruit, hold thylacine skulls and smile at the entering audience. These two women want to tell their story to everyone, which is made particularly evident when the pair welcomes latecomers in warmly. What follows is an enchanting and poetic story about how the thylacines make an impact on their lives. The audience is spellbound by their tales and there is never a dull moment in the storytelling. Sarah Hamilton and Justine Campbell are just sublime in their performances. Switching effortlessly between characters, they are humourous, engaging and draw the audience in to their beautiful mode of storytelling.
Gentle, yet feisty, this is a show I could’ve happily kept watching – I didn’t want it to end. They Saw a Thylacine is storytelling at its best.
