Rehearsal images are released today for Frantic Assembly’s Things I Know To Be True, an exciting international co-production between Frantic Assembly and State Theatre Company of South Australia. The play will have its UK premiere at the Lyric Hammersmith from 10th September until 1st October 2016 before touring to Oxford, Warwick, Liverpool, Salford and Chichester.
A brand new commission by leading Australian writer Andrew Bovell, Things I Know To Be True is co-directed by Frantic Assembly’s Tony and Olivier Award nominated artistic director Scott Graham and State Theatre Company’s artistic director Geordie Brookman. Following its world premiere at Adelaide Festival Centre in May 2016, Things I Know To Be True has been recreated for the UK, with a UK cast, as part of State Theatre Company’s first ever international co-production.
Featuring Frantic Assembly’s celebrated physicality, the production stars Matthew Barker (Mark Price), Natalie Casey (Pip Price), Richard Mylan (Ben Price), Kirsty Oswald (Rosie Price), Ewan Stewart (Bob Price) and Imogen Stubbs (Fran Price).
A complex and intense study of the mechanics of a family that is both poetic and brutally frank, Things I Know To Be True tells the story of a family and marriage through the eyes of four grown siblings struggling to define themselves beyond their parents’ love and expectations.
Parents Bob and Fran have worked their fingers to the bone and with their four children grown and ready to fly the nest it might be time to relax and smell the roses. But the changing seasons bring home some shattering truths.
Andrew Bovell is regarded as one of Australia’s greatest storytellers, for critically acclaimed plays including When The Rain Stops Falling, Speaking In Tongues and an adaptation of Kate Grenville’s The Secret River, as well as screen work including Lantana and A Most Wanted Man.
Matthew Barker plays Mark Price. Matthew’s previous work with Scott Graham includes the National Theatre productions Husbands & Sons and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Other theatre work includes Hamlet (National Theatre), Good People (Hampstead Theatre/West End) and Much Ado About Nothing (Derby LIVE). Television work includes The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies (Carnival Films), Doctors (BBC), EastEnders (BBC), Jericho: The Killing of Johnny Swan (Granada) and No Angels (Channel 4).
Natalie Casey plays Pip Price. In the West End Natalie has previously appeared in Legally Blonde and Abigail’s Party. Other stage work includes The Invisible Man (Menier Chocolate Factory), Oklahoma! (Chichester Festival), 9 to 5 (Manchester Opera House) and Sex and the Three Day Week (Liverpool Playhouse). Her work for television includes a starring role as Donna in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (BBC) and Hollyoaks (Mersey Television).
Richard Mylan plays Ben Price. Richard has previously worked with Frantic Assembly on The Believers (UK tour) and Peepshow (Lyric Hammersmith/Plymouth Theatre Royal). Other previous theatre roles include Baggage (Arts Theatre), How I Helped End Communism (The Lowry Studio), Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco (Paines Plough) and Badfinger (Donmar Warehouse). Television credits include recurring roles in Waterloo Road, Doctors, Grownups and Coupling (all on BBC) and Where The Heart Is and The Bill (both on ITV). Film credits include City Rats (Revolver Entertainment) and The Upside of Anger (Media 8 Entertainment).
Kirsty Oswald plays Rosie Price. Kirsty’s most recent work with Frantic Assembly was Othello in 2014/15, in which she played Desdemona (Lyric Hammersmith and UK Tour). Other theatre roles include The Father (West End), The Winter’s Tale (Sheffield Crucible), We Are Proud To Present… (Bush Theatre) and The Judas Kiss (Hampstead Theatre). Her work for television includes roles in The Coroner (BBC), Beowulf (ITV), Doctors (BBC), Dancing on the Edge (Ruby Films) and Sadie J (BBC), and her film credits include Gutterdammerung and A Little Chaos. Kirsty’s radio credits include The Power and the Glory and The Forsytes both for the BBC.
Ewan Stewart plays Bob Price. Ewan has previously worked with Frantic Assembly on Beautiful Burnout (UK tour) and has also worked extensively with the National Theatre, appearing in The Pillowman, Sergeant Musgrave’s Dance, Major Barbara, The Murderer, Racing Demon, In The Blue, As I Lay Dying and A Month in the Country. He has also appeared in Royal Court productions Jumpy and Road, and National Theatre Scotland’s In Time of Strife, and Let The Right One In. Television credits include The Interceptor (BBC), P.O.W. (ITV) and Only Fools and Horses (BBC).
Imogen Stubbs plays Fran Price. Imogen has appeared in numerous shows in the West End, the RSC, the National Theatre, and many regional theatres. Recent stage credits include Alecky Blythe's Little Revolution at the Almeida Theatre, Strangers on a Train at the Gielgud and Communicating Doors (Menier Chocolate Factory). For the Royal Shakespeare Company Imogen appeared in Othello, Two Noble Kinsmen, The Rover and Richard II. Additional stage credits include Gertrude in Hamlet at the Old Vic, Sarah Frankcom's production of Tennessee Williams's Orpheus Descending and Private Lives (both at Royal Exchange Theatre), Salt, Root and Roe (Donmar Warehouse/West End) and A Marvellous Year For Plums at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Film work includes Twelfth Night, True Colours, Deadline, A Summer Story and Sense and Sensibility.
LISTINGS
10 September – 1 October
Press Night Friday 16 September
Lyric Hammersmith
Lyric Square, King Street, London, W6 0QL
020 8741 6850
www.lyric.co.uk
4 – 8 October
Oxford Playhouse
11-12 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2LW
01865 305 305
www.oxfordplayhouse.com
11 – 22 October
Warwick Arts Centre
Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, West Midlands, CV4 7AL
024 7652 4524
www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
2 – 5 November
Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse (Playhouse Theatre)
Playhouse Theatre, Williamson Square, Liverpool, L1 1EL
0151 709 4776
www.everymanplayhouse.com
8 – 12 November
The Lowry (Quays Theatre)
Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ
0843 208 6000
www.thelowry.com
15 – 26 November
Chichester Festival Theatre (Minerva Theatre)
Oaklands Park, Chichester, West Sussex, P019 6AP
01243 781312
www.cft.org.uk
Running time approx. 2 hours, including an interval
Contains strong language
Suitable for ages 14+
