Sweet young Rosie is travelling Europe, trying to be a grown
up and not having the best time. She needs to go home to her family’s rose
garden, where everything is safe and everything stays the same. Or does it? Hard-working
parents Fran and Bob Price have invested all their hopes into the future
generation but what does that mean? What
does happy look like? How much should you sacrifice for the happiness of others
and is it worth it? As the Siblings share their secrets and life choices, we
ask what should – or would – we do in their place? A fast-paced and fun story
with a very touching heart that reminds us all how we ultimately have to change
– and what really makes us grow up.
Director Sara Jo Harrison and Assistant director Craig
Fairbairn have triumphed in creating a moving, fast paced, poignant and funny
show that had the audience enthralled from start to finish. The simple set (Anneliese
Clifton), designed to be in-the-round, captures the warm and inescapable
feeling of a loving and occasionally stifling family.
The play starts powerfully as the characters congregate in
the centre. The lighting (Xander Burbidge), and discordant music threaded with whispers
(Sound Craig Fairbairn), gradually intensify, then cut to black. Maya Torres,
as Rosie, is sensational as the jubilant younger sister, searching for the rites
of passage to help her grow up. Jay Hindmarsh as Mark/Mia gives an understated
and superb performance as they explore the true pain of the difficult choices
of someone who doesn’t fit their parents’ expectations. Alison Carr plays older
sister Pip with vivid visions of being the child that their mother resents, while
Sam Burrell, as Ben, gives us an intense look at what can happen to the sibling
that has been the ‘favourite’. Steve
Robertson and Moira Valentine have perfect chemistry as long-suffering parents
Fran and Bob.
Altogether, this is a marvellous production with much
dazzling talent on show. It also has a great story that will remind you to call
that person in your family you haven’t spoken to lately. It’s simply one of the
finest pieces of theatre it is possible to see; get a ticket before you miss
out.
Things I Know To Be True is showing at the People’s Theatre
9th -14th September.
