The Snarling Beasties were formed in 1986 by Debbie Isitt and Mark Kilmurry and were influenced by the theatre of Steven Berkoff. After performing East by Berkoff, Isitt became the theatre company's writer and director. Mark Kilmurry played the lead parts in her first plays, Gangsters (1988), Punch & Judy, (1989), Femme Fatal (1990) and The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband (1992). The theatre company was very successful and won many awards including the Time Out theatre award, The Perrier Pick of the Fringe (three times) and The Independent Theatre Award. Their theatre mixed a cinematic style with total theatre and created physical, dynamic and naturalistic plays. The company was very influential but disbanded in 1996 though Debbie and Mark are both very successful in their chosen creative roles and still plan to do more work in the future.
Isitt's recent films are Confetti!, Nativity!, Nativity 2 and more recently Love & Marriage, a television series. Mark Kilmurry is artistic director of the Ensemble Theatre, Sydney.