The Little Theatre, Leicester – until 15 November 2025
Reviewed by Sam Bradshaw
4****
Things I Know To Be True is a contradictory story – as the family dramas unfold, we are reminded of how little we truly know, how fragile truth is, and how powerful it can be once it is revealed -especially when it is ripped bare by those you hold most dear.
As we have come to expect from main house productions at The Little, the scenery is good quality, detailed, and fit for purpose without being wasteful. Steph Nicholls and Dave Towers , alongside a fine build and stage crew, have done a wonderful job. The essential domestic ‘business’ with coffee machines and carrot peeling in the upstage kitchen is kept to a minimum, as most of the important conversations happen in the ever-shifting seasonal garden. Doug Finlay’s lighting design coalesces with Sam Kelly’s nature-based sound scape to provide some subtle and very atmospheric transitions. These pauses in the intensity of the scene work not only communicate the changes of the seasons, but also the passing of time – and provide a much-needed pause for the audience to reflect on what has gone before and prepare for the next can of worms to be popped-open. Perhaps a moment of recovery for the family too. There is a strong theme of nature growing through this beautiful interpretation by director Nadine Beasley, who has no-doubt nurtured a family-feel in the company, enabling such powerful and naturalistic delivery.
The heads of the Price family are mum Fran (Nicky Mawer) and Bob (Paul Beasley) who are now middle-aged and in the autumn of their lives. The original script is set in Australia but as explained in the programme, the decision was made to stick with a generic well-spoken ‘Midlands’ accent. While we could have done without the few references to “gum trees” “dollars” and kids moving to ‘Sydney/Brisbane’ which do jar and take you momentarily away from the story – the issues could be faced by anyone and we soon dismiss these references as being unimportant.
4 grown-up children orbit the family home despite their best efforts to ‘get out’, returning to the nest in times of need. Rosie (Sophie Johnston) is the youngest and sets the stage with some passionate anti-naturalistic direct address which is so well delivered and emoted by Johnston, we immediately care about the highs and lows on her expedition away from home. Clever staging from N.Beasley embellish and energise this recount of events and throughout the piece, the long soliloquys of all the characters never fail to hold our attention, shifting easily between natural and ‘theatrical’ staging.
Because of our connection formed with Sophie Johnston, who is a natural storyteller, we remain allied with the character of Rosie as she is also an unwilling witness to the trauma and distress of these family issues. I don’t imagine any audience member could be in the privileged position of not being able to connect in a very real way to the problems faced by the characters in this all-too-real and raw family inquest.
Kate Carey (Pip) delivers a magnetic performance with some of the best projection and diction we’ve seen at The Little lately, somehow managing to make us both care about and dislike her character in equal measure. She is very relatable for the modern woman too busy sorting everything out to have anything for herself, struggling between unhappiness and selfishness.
Richie Phillips (Ben) provides us with a distinct character, with a different energy and physicality to his siblings and being considered ‘the favourite’ – Phillips looks very comfortable on stage, with strong physicality exploring the fall from golden-boy arrogance to little-boy despair with vivid, visceral clarity.
Joe Allen (Mark) completes the sibling set, with perhaps the most difficult task of all. Through no fault of the actor, Mark’s revelation does elicit a slight eye-roll at yet another super-dramatic plot development that in his case seems to have some from absolutely nowhere – the plot twists can feel like an exhausting year’s worth of Aussie Soap Opera smushed into a 2-hour play! However, Allen appears to have approached this complex role with humility and sensitivity, and this important and rather current issue is handled with great respect. We feel proud of both the character and the actor when we see them return to the home at the end of the piece.
Which brings us to the disparity in reaction of the parents to the various problems faced by the children. They are often at odds with each other both in terms of response and how aware they are of each other’s problems. P.Beasley doesn’t quite have the age himself for a 63 year old character to sit comfortably on his frame. Bob is sometimes found standing awkwardly and slightly redundant behind the phenomenally intense arguments, leaving the audience willing Dad to step-in and take charge. However, Beasley’s portrayal of barely-restrained rage and wounded betrayal is quite powerful and reminds us of how difficult being a Dad and Husband can be. His facial expression during the final revelation is heart-breaking.
Stealing the spotlight is Nicky Mawer (Fran) who is indispensably watchable, and manages some enormous emotional turn-arounds with great skill. Every line is delivered straight from her heart and felt like the first time she has ever said it, giving deep brutality to some of the cuttingly raw honesty. It didn’t feel like acting.
As the strong ‘garden’ metaphor makes us reflect on periods of growth, nature/nurture, self-care, hibernation, and renewal – the family truths dug-up and laid bare in this piece will connect with all who see this powerful piece.