Things I Know to be True at Cronulla

The new production at Arts Theatre Cronulla is Things I Know to be True, a beautifully crafted play from Andrew Bovell that is a compelling, intense, unexpectedly funny and complex story of love in many of its forms. 

Set in Adelaide, where the World Premiere was held in May 2016, it is a very Australian play, capturing the social economic shift of an Australian working class family. It highlights the concerns of a generation that sacrificed so much to give the following generation a financially stable life that they never knew themselves. 

The story is of a typical working-class Australian family, the Prices. Parents Bob and Fran have worked hard to raise four loving, healthy kids, taking the stresses, strains and growing pains in their stride. Bob loves his garden and in particular, his roses. Fran juggles her job as a nurse with keeping retrenched Bob in check and being mum to four adult children. 

However, over the course of one tumultuous year, each family member is presented with a range of life-changing events, and we witness the fracturing of this previously tight-knit family as each of their children exposes an individual truth too raw to comprehend.

Director Susan Geldart notes in the program “I was fortunate to do some training with UK physical theatre company Frantic Assembly in 2019 and wanted to infuse some subtle moments of movement within the production. I’m grateful to the cast who embraced my vision to create these moments. Their commitment and talent have breathed life into this beautiful story.”

The production opens on 4 August, 2023 and runs till 9 September on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and has four Sunday matinees at 2pm.

Tickets are $30/$27 and can be booked online via the theatre’s website: 

https://www.artstheatrecronulla.com.au/

Cast

Alex Baum: Mark Price

Izzie Bland: Rosie Price

Elizabeth Coote: Fran Price

Michael Gooley: Bob Price

Kirsty Mcgowan: Pip Price

Mark Bryan Merco: Ben Price

Photography: Port Hacking Camera Club