THEY SAW A THYLACINE to Play Malthouse Theatre

They Saw a Thylacine / conjures the ghost of one of Australia's lost beauties, the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger), in a feisty slice of campfire storytelling.

Following a string of sell-out performances on the Fringe circuit, Justine Campbell and Sarah Hamilton bring their critically acclaimed work home for its first ever staging by a major theatre company.

On an unseasonably cold September morning in 1936, the last known Tasmanian tiger died in captivity at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart.

Campbell and Hamilton have used this event as inspiration for a striking piece of theatre, intersecting the story of a zookeeper's daughter and a thylacine tracker.

'A work such as this is particularly relevant at a time when the scientific community is crying out for us all to think harder and speak up about the preservation of biodiversity,' said Matthew Lutton, Artistic Director of Malthouse Theatre and collaborator on the restaging of this work.

Earlier this year, scientists released a paper revealing the earth was losing species - such as the thylacine - faster than ever before, and was on a trajectory for a mass extinction event to occur, caused by human activity.

'Theatre that digs directly into complex and urgent conversation is at the heart of Malthouse Theatre,' said Lutton.

They Saw a Thylacine won the Best Performance and the Tour Ready Awards at the 2013 Melbourne Fringe Festival and a Standout Performer Award for Campbell at the New Zealand Fringe, as well as the Weekly Theatre Award at the Adelaide Fringe. It was nominated for three Green Room Awards: Best Female Performer (shared), Best Independent Production and Best Writing.

A celebration of self-preservation, They Saw a Thylacine is a timely reminder that we're all in the same / fight to survive.