Things I Know to Be True

The plot of Things I Know To Be True follows the story and the many struggles of the Price Family. The play begins with a monologue from Rosie Price (played by Tilda Cobham-Hervey in the Premiere season, and Kirsty Oswald in the UK) on a European getaway during her gap-year. She reveals that she had met a man called Emanuel while she was in Berlin, but found that he'd stolen most of her valuables and run away when she woke up one night - forcing her to return to Australia.

As Rosie returns home, we see the rest of the family come to meet her. While this is all happening, it is revealed that Pip, Rosie's elder sister, has decided to leave her husband and two children behind to live in Vancouver; her mother, Fran, disapproves, especially after she found out that Pip had been cheating. Fran is particularly disappointed, as she states that she saw a lot of herself in Pip. Later in the play, Pip has moved to Vancouver and had written a letter to Fran, finally emotionally connecting with her after a rather abusive childhood. It takes hundreds of miles for the two characters to finally be together emotionally.

In another angle of the plot, the Price's second child, Mia, then presenting as a man and using the name Mark, reveals that she is a transgender woman. This comes as a shock to the rest of the family, with Fran again being particularly displeased. She reveals that she wishes to move to Sydney to begin hormonal therapy. We do not see Mia presenting as a man again, but see her presenting as a woman later.

Another sub-plot is that Fran had been saving around $250,000 as a get-out fund for her relationship with Bob, stating that it is "hard to love someone for 30 years straight." She admits to Bob that she once thought of running away - like Pip had just done - but stayed together for the sake of their children. Fran then says that she now saves it for them to treat themselves. She asks Bob where he'd most like to go and he replies Kruger National Park. To his surprise, she agrees to go, yet they never do.

The final sub-plot of this play is centred around the younger son, Ben, and his father, Bob. Bob finds a European car parked outside; it turns out to be Ben's and Bob wants to know how he found the money, with Ben answering that he worked hard for it. This appears to be insignificant, until later in the play Ben returns home, sweating and speaking quickly. Rosie is the only person indoors at the time and she realises quickly that Ben had been taking drugs. Bob and Fran then enter, now even more curious about his money situation. Bob asks Ben what drugs he'd taken, to which Ben replies, "It'd be easier to ask which ones I haven't." Bob then snaps, shouting and swearing at Ben - it is at this moment that Ben reveals that he had been skimming, and that's where he'd retrieved the money for the drugs and flashy car.

As all this is happening, however, tragedy strikes. It is revealed that Fran had been involved in a car crash and was pronounced dead on arrival. She passes away without reconciling with Mia, emotionally connecting with Pip in person, forgiving Ben and taking Bob to South Africa. The children return to Adelaide to meet Bob and Rosie for Fran's funeral.

Things I Know to Be True features a soundtrack composed by Nils Frahm. Frahm's pieces, selected from his catalogue by directors Scott Graham and Geordie Brookman in conjunction with sound designer Andrew Howard, have one prominent instrument; the piano. Frahm ensures that the piano's chords reflect the mood of the current scene, using minor keys for sadder scenes and slightly jazzier tones for happier ones.

Aside from Frahm's soundtrack, the work of Leonard Cohen is mentioned many times; coincidentally he died just a few days before the first performance at the Chichester Minerva Theatre. His song 'Famous Blue Raincoat' is featured during Pip's letter to Fran, where she explains that it used to be Fran and Bob's song that they loved. Here are the lyrics from Cohen's hit that were adapted to fit the letter:

The following is a list of mediums that Andrew Bovell has named as inspirations when writing, or rehearsing Things I Know to Be True: [2]

Things I Know to Be True has widely received good reviews, with the average rating at around three and a half stars out of five.

The Guardian described the Frantic Assembly production as "a pleasure to watch", and the Radio Times stated that "It is a rare thing for a suburban family drama to resonate quite as acutely and uncomfortably as Things I Know to Be True", describing it as an "understated gem".[3][4] What's On Stage praised Bovell's writing ability as "good on the daily frictions of life".[5]