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They Saw a Thylacine

Well-researched, lyrical script shines in this simply presented touring production.
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Image: They Saw a Thylacine, Performing Lines, Photographer: Pia Johnson

Alison Reid is daughter of the curator at Hobart’s Beaumaris Zoo. A skilled taxidermist and trained by her father in the care of the zoo’s animals, she is particularly fond of Ben, a female thylacine. Beatrice McCullough is a female trapper, determined to make her fortune by capturing a live thylacine, or even a mated pair, to sell to a zoo. They Saw a Thylacine tracks their parallel stories as they make their ways in a world stacked against them as females, as carers of animals, as passionate about conservation of a species.

Justine Campbell plays a desperate, frustrated Alison. Names, dates and circumstances are all provided in her narrative, tallying with the historical characters and events that formed the last days of the last captive Tasmanian Tiger. The pent up anguish of Campbell’s Alison is countered by her portrayal of the all-powerful member of the zoo board member, his callous officiousness and condescension coming through clearly and crushingly in snidely flattened vowels and bitten consonants. Campbell’s portrayal of the charming trapper Fred is likewise vocally strong, his constant leering sneer evident even in the pauses between his pet names for Beattie. Campbell’s depiction of these male roles, threatening in a myriad of ways, draws further similarities between the struggle for survival by the thylacines and also of dedicated young women, coming of age in a literal man’s world.

Sarah Hamilton plays a determined, constantly thwarted Beatrice. In place of precise historical details her script runs wild with lyrical, immediate description of bush tracking sights and sounds that Beattie seems to experience as a lucid dream of life. Hamilton has perfect delivery, words all clearly formed as they tumble out over each other, Beattie’s oddly off-beat grammatical patterns consistently controlled. Resolutely feminine but strong and no one’s fool, Hamilton’s Beattie is a marvellous creation who keeps fighting, literally when needed, for her precious thylacine.

The acting throughout is low key, static poses with a starkly simple set of chairs, a light backdrop and a few oversized light bulbs standing in for the full set and cast evoked by this presentation. The simple staging is perfect not only for low-fuss touring, but also to give full measure to a strongly-worded script.

Strong thematic echoes resonate between the storylines in an impressively researched script. The othering of life and death, male and female, human and natural worlds are continuously contrasted and played off against each other, much as the meticulous research and impressionistic lyricism are juxtaposed in close quarters.

A delight for those who appreciate strong wordplay, an accurate account of the demise of the last thylacine in captivity and plenty of food for thought on many issues, They Saw a Thylacine promises to bring the goods as it tours this year.

4 out of 5 stars

They Saw a Thylacine
By Human Animal Exchange
Presented by Performing Lines
Artistic Collaborator: Matthew Lutton
Set and Lighting Design: Matthew Adey
Sound Design: Jethro Woodward
Costume Design: Chloe Greaves
Created and performed by Justine Campbell and Sarah Hamilton

Tour details available on Performing Lines

  

Nerida Dickinson
About the Author
Nerida Dickinson is a writer with an interest in the arts. Previously based in Melbourne and Manchester, she is observing the growth of Perth's arts sector with interest.