Review: THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE, Bristol Old Vic

Families are tricky things. They have the capacity to love and frustrate us like no one else. It is little wonder they provide such a rich vein for dramatists.

In Andrew Bovell's Things I Know To Be True we're with the Price family who have four grown-up children, all at different stages of flying the nest.

At first, it all seems a little predictable. Pedestrian, even. There's one child who can't hang onto a girlfriend, one who still has his shirts ironed by mum, one who everyone thinks is the favourite and one who seems to have everything set. There are more than a few knowing chuckles as mum Fran manages to diagnose what each child is hiding by the merest of glances.

Of course, things are rarely what they seem on the surface and as the play unravels, so do the lives of the Price family as they learn both remarkable and unremarkable truths about each other. Children who are forced to realise their parents are people too. Parents who can't come to terms with their child's way of life. If there is a criticism, it does feel as if the Price family is overly packed with drama.

Geordie Brookman and Scott Graham direct with pace and purpose in what could otherwise be a lingering piece. The physical nature of Frantic Assembly's work is on display here and achieves a rare feat: combining longer passages of text and monologues with seamless movement. The kitchen table becomes a centrepiece around which the characters revolve. It is only on a rare occasion that the movement becomes a distraction rather a compliment.

The acting is uniformly superb throughout. Kirsty Oswald as the youngest sibling has the stunning opening sequence that contains many of the best visual moments of the shows. She has a touching vulnerability without being precocious. Ewan Stewart and Cate Hamer, as parents Bob and Fran, are brilliant observed. Flawed, yet loving, there's a little bit of everyone's parents in them.

That ultimately is what Bovell's script allows: a chance to see a little bit of yourself and your family on stage. Funny at times. Uncomfortable at others.

The inter-generational relationship feels especially well drawn. The young ones who want to do creative writing courses versus the parents who, in their words, "were told what they were going to be" and got on with it. I'm sure there will be many people familiar with parents telling them to get a qualification as 'something to fall back on'.

Things I Know To Be True is a portrait of a modern family - imperfect, messy and always in transition. Yet at those important moments, when needed, everyone is there in loving solidarity. Life-affirming theatre.

Things I Know To Be True at Bristol Old Vic until 10 February

Read our interview with Scott Graham and Geordie Brookman

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

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