Things I Know To Be True

Written by Andrew Bovell

July 2023

Directed by Angie McKeown

AuthorAndrew Bovell

Andrew Bovell is an Australian writer for theatre, film and television. He was born on 23 November 1962 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia and completed his secondary school education in Perth. He graduated from the University of Western Australia with a BA and followed that with a Diploma in Dramatic Arts at the Victorian College of Arts, in Melbourne.

His AWGIE (AWG = Australian Writers Guild) award-winning play, Speaking in Tongues, (1996) has been seen throughout Australia as well as in Europe and the US and Bovell adapted it for the screen as Lantana (2001). Both the play and screenplay have been published by Currency Press along with After Dinner (1988), Holy Day (2001), Scenes from a Separation (written with Hannie Rayson) (1995) and Who's Afraid of the Working Class? (1998), written with Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves, Christos Tsiolkas and Irene Vela. Who's Afraid of the Working Class? was adapted to film as Blessed.

When the Rain Stops Falling (2008) won the 2008 Victorian Premier's Literary Award and the 2008 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards. In 2010, a production of When the Rain Stops Falling opened in New York. The New York Times reviewed the play describing it as "a fitfully moving but diagrammatic play about the long legacy of unnatural acts" and commenting that "the relationships eventually emerge with an emotional clarity that the play’s elliptical structure works against".

"Things I Know to be True" was first performed by The State Theatre Company South Australia in May 2016.

PlayThings I Know To Be True

Bob and Fran have worked hard to give their four children the opportunities they never had. Now, with the kids ready to make lives of their own, it's time to sit back and smell the roses. But the change of the seasons reveals some shattering truths, leaving us asking whether it's possible to love too much.

Things I Know To Be True is Andrew Bovell's complex and intense portrait of the mechanics of a family - and a marriage - through the eyes of four siblings struggling to define themselves beyond their parents' love and expectations.

Originally co-produced with physical theatre company Frantic Assembly, this contemporary piece is a touching, visceral and bold visual feast for the audience.

The Bench Production

Things I Know to be True Image

This play was staged at The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre (formerly Havant Arts Centre), East Street Havant - Bench Theatre's home since 1977.

Cast

Bob David Penrose
Fran Laura Sheppard
Mark Aaron Holdaway
Pip Katie Watson
Ben Jeff Bone
Rosie Alex Eels

Crew

Director Angie McKeown
Producers David and Jacquie Penrose
Stage Manager Jessi Wilson
Assistant Stage Managers Ollie McKeown and Tasmin Halford
Physical Theatre Advisor Jessi Wilson
Lighting Design Roger Niven
Sound Design Howard Alston
Lighting Operation Roger Niven
Sound Operation Howard Alston
Original Music Archie McKeown
Set Design Angie McKeown
Flyer Design Archie McKeown
Programme Editor Derek Callam
Photography Jacquie Penrose

Director's Notes

"Things I Know To Be True" moved me profoundly when I first experienced it in 2016. I use the word 'experience' as this was a raw, visceral and often messy depiction of a family; a deep, unflinching dive into the lives of Fran, Bob, Pip, Mark, Ben, Rosie and Mia. The Price family are not perfect, their flaws and struggles over the course of the seasons bear testimony to this.

The production's heady mix of visual, physical and emotional charge combine beautifully with Bovell's lyrical and often poetic script to provide maximum impact. The collaboration with Frantic Assembly in the production ensured maximum emotional impact and truth.

Rehearsing with this cast and crew has required a real intimacy and group ownership and responsibility in bringing the characters and their complex relationships to life. We have shared laughter, tears and moments of realisation. As we questioned many of the things we thought we knew to be true…

For my sister Kerry x

Angie McKeown

Angie last appeared on the Bench stage as "Di" in "Di, Viv and Rose" in February 2020. Angie's debut performance for Bench was in "Sive" (Feb 2017). She has also appeared in "Twelfth Night", "Mark My Words", "Hedda Gabler", "Supernova 8" and "A Bunch of Amateurs". Angie was our Stage Manager for "Pride".

"Things I Know To Be True" is Angie's directorial debut for Bench Theatre.

Reviews

The NewsJames George

The Bench are back at The Spring in Havant over the next two weeks with their rendition of Andrew Bovell's Things I Know To Be True.

I love seeing a show for the first time; no foreknowledge, no expectations, no preset ideas. One comes to it fresh with an open heart and an open mind.

The show itself certainly has an open heart; no gripes from me on that front. As a piece of theatre, however, it expects a lot – too much, indeed - from its audience, principally in the form of credulity. We are presented with a family – parents and four kids – who demonstrate between them just about every conceivable familial situation that Life could ever throw at you. For that reason, I must confess, I felt patronized by the piece itself and can't say I actually liked the play.

But note that. I didn't like the play. The performance, however, is a different matter altogether.

First-time director Angie McKeown has, with the help of six able performers, created something very fine indeed. As parents Bob and Fran, David Penrose and Laura Sheppard are exemplary. Their relationship is beautifully drawn and the subtle highlights the actors add to McKeown's direction are a joy to behold. It's not the perfect relationship; it verges, however, on being the perfect portrayal of such.

As the four children, each experiencing a different hiccup in their lives, Jeff Bone, Alex Eels, Aaron Holdaway and Katie Watson give honest, straightforward, ungarnished performances. All four are firing on all cylinders and – having seen them all work before – think they're all giving of their very best here.

However, the performance that stands out is that from Holdaway. Known, principally, for his comedy work, he gives here a sympathetic, understanding performance of a man facing a situation in his life that few of us ever will – and he plays it beautifully.

You may, like me, find the play unlikeable but I suspect that, also like me, you will find the performance sublime.

Production Photographs