Review: THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE, Lyric Hammersmith, 16 September 2016

Walking towards the Lyric Hammersmith and looking at the upscale cafes and bars and the superb renovation of the theatre itself, I remarked to my son that perhaps no other part of London has changed quite as much as that within a stone's throw of the terrifying traffic whizzing round the Tube station. In a city of immigrants (I came 35 years ago from Liverpool, his mother a handful of years later from Sweden) Hammersmith is a district of immigrants, its extraordinary vitality (with its theatre now a thriving arts hub) a shining example of what makes London such a maddening, messy delight. More of that later.

Frantic Assembly and the State Theatre Company of South Australia's Things I Know To Be True is a new play by Andrew Bovell set in suburban Adelaide, but deals with themes that one finds in families the world over. On the surface, the Price family are picture-book perfect: Bob rakes the leaves in his garden, enjoying his retirement; Fran works at the hospital and is the unchallengeable matriarch of the clan; and the four children, all now grown up, enjoy successful careers, with the youngest about to go to university. Of course, things aren't quite as they appear.

Bob is bored and his self-esteem hasn't recovered from being laid off at the car plant, Fran is a control freak, Pip's marriage is collapsing, Mark is on the brink of a life-changing decision, Ben is working hard and playing hard with the fast set, and Rosie has been hurt as a teenager in love. These stories play out as what had been planned as an idyllic easing back after a lifetime of hard work in and out of the home turns into something closer to a nightmare - though, if truth be told, these are very much First World Problems.

Frantic Assembly's physical theatre is the best thing about the production - the characters, literally as well as metaphorically, supporting each other and tables and chairs sliding swiftly on to the stage capturing how quickly a house can change when the kids return, bringing their chaotic energy. There's some nice dialogue too, capturing the way families talk over each other, anticipate what will be said and temper aggression with warmth.

After a promising first 30 minutes, which gained plenty of laughs from the audience, the mood darkens, voices become louder and more strident and issues start to drive the drama instead of the drama driving the issues. Bovell's script requires his actors too often to say exactly what is on their minds - we're given nothing to do except to absorb this torrent of emotions. Much of what they say boils down to "What about me?", which makes it hard to empathise with the impact of the conflicts (and, boy, is there a lot of conflict) on these men and women. I'm afraid I soon had no sympathy for any of them and, without that, it's hard to care about their fates. To be fair, if I had disengaged, plenty around me hadn't and there were tears for some at the end.

Imogen Stubbs and Ewan Stewart play Mum and Dad as initially stable, if perhaps a little over-invested in their offspring, before descending into shrieking parents-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown as their cosy world unravels. It was quite hard work watching them at times, but I accept that this is how these scenes are played in soap operas and this play often feels like an amalgamation of killer soap storylines. The kids too become one-dimensional representations of their specific issue, the acting becoming overwrought, though Matthew Barker engenders some sympathy for Mark in the face of a parental reaction that appears at odds with everything we had learned about them. Natalie Casey retains credibility as the exile whose dreams sour.

It is perhaps the script's politics that grate more than the issue-driven plotting. This is a play that tells us "This garden is the world". Rosie's trip to Europe only brings heartache and thieving, Mark's understanding of his true identity leads to a kind of banishment, Ben's successful job to irresistible temptation, and Pip's new life abroad to disappointment in love. The reactionary message that aspiration should be limited to becoming more successful versions of the previous generation, close enough to the parental home to be summoned by phone on a weekday afternoon and be round in five minutes, is hammered home - the world beyond the picket fence is dangerous.

Which, of course, runs completely contrary to the culture that surrounds the venue and sits uneasily with the ethos of the theatre which does wonderful work with the kids on the local estates, raising aspirations, expanding horizons and encouraging them to make their own lives. The world, for all of the genuine fears parents may have when sending their kids into it, is, even in these straitened times, brimming with opportunities and hope. On the way out, pause for a moment to have a look at Lyric Square should you need any confirmation of that.

Things I Know To Be True continues at the Lyric Hammersmith until 1 October.

Read our interview with co-directors Scott Graham and Geordie Brookman

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

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