Performances 9-14 February 2026 in the Auditorium

Directed by Jonathan Cleaver

Things I Know To Be True is about love in many of its forms. At times comforting and supportive, at others suffocating and destructive. But always love. Andrew Bovell’s remarkable play presents us with some hard truths about family, love and the things we take for granted.

The co-director of Frantic Theatre’s production, Scott Graham, wrote that the play is about 'family, love, loss and dreams that are exposed to be nothing more than that.'

Would you be able to list all the things you know to be true in your life? What exists for you that is concrete, dependable and safe? The Price family are pretty certain that they know what’s true for them. That is until their lives begin to unravel.

With comic moments interspersed with high tragedy, this play is joyful but also extremely moving and devastating.

The characterisation is mostly naturalistic but features some use of non-naturalistic physical movement to emphasise the emotional connection between the characters - following the story of the Price Family and their difficulties. The stage set will be minimal and symbolic to allow for ensemble work.

The AUDITION will take place on TUESDAY 14 TH OCT, 2025 at 7.15pm-10pm upstairs in the STUDIO SPACE. There will be a RECALL/SECOND AUDITION on THURSDAY 16 TH OCT, 2025, same time and place.

I am very much looking for actors who have a good grasp of naturalism but are also prepared to consider some simple physical, stylised movement (although this is not essential). An appreciation of Frantic Theatre’s approach to movement would be useful in advance of the audition. The Frantic version of the play can be rented online on Digital Theatre. This will be a significant influence in our approach to the text.

The play is set in Australia but accents will not be required. It is a universal piece and the actor’s own accent will be sufficient.

The chemistry between actors will also be crucial to the play’s success.

All 6 characters will spend most of the time on stage both in scripted scenes and ensemble sequences.

THE ROLES

Please Note; ‘playing age’ does not mean you have to be that age to play the role. You do have to be able to give an accurate rendering of the role though.

Also, the character of Mark is trans. Although the role is presented initially to the audience as a cis man (Mark is married to a woman and is not out to the family until later in the play), we discover Mark considers herself to be a transwoman. For this reason, cis men and transgender auditionees are invited to come along to the audition. Note; Mark does take his shirt off at one point in the play having got wet in the rain.

FRAN

Playing age 50-70; the mother of the four children and wife to Bob. A plain speaking and strong but loving woman, a senior nurse. She loves her family very much but has some forceful opinions on the ways in which they choose to live their lives.

BOB

Playing age 50-70; father to the four children and husband to Fran. A fairly easy-going but retrenched and somewhat set in his ways, retired, car factory worker. He has always been faithful to Fran and is unbalanced by events that unfold in his family.

PIP

Playing age 30-40; eldest daughter. Similar in temperament to Fran. An education department beaurocrat. She is married with young children but is having an affair. Feisty and determined but harbouring resentment over family events in the past and the way her mother treats her.

MARK (MIA)

Playing age 25-35; eldest son. A calm and reasoned IT consultant and very close to Rosie. Married and comes out unexpectedly to the family as a transwoman. See note above.

BEN

Playing age 20-35; youngest son. He finds it hard to live up to his siblings’ and parents’ expectations. Fran treats him like the baby boy of the family. He gets into financial difficulties due to criminal activity. Can be hot-headed but is very needy underneath his businessman exterior.

ROSIE

Playing age 18-25; the youngest daughter/sibling of the family. Returns home after a trek around Europe trying to ‘find’ herself. Charming, young and fairly naïve. In many ways the play is about her having to grow up due to the adversities the family face in the course of a year.

THE PLAYTEXT

We will be using the Nick Hern Books version of the playtext; ISBN: 978-1-84842-576-7

There are is an excellent resource pack by Frantic Theatre online with descriptions of character portrayals and rehearsal sessions. There are also great videos on YouTube of Frantic physical theatre techniques.

There is a copy of the text at the box office in the drawer, not to be taken out of the theatre, please! You will find photocopies of the audition pieces, with a master text for each. Please make a fresh photocopy, should all the photocopies in the folder for the roles you require be taken. There is a photocopier in the office at the far end of the bar area. If you are new to the Lace Market Theatre, ask someone to help you. Best to come on a Friday evening or Saturday Lunchtime for this purpose at a point where there is not a performance on.

You do not need to learn the lines. You can use a script in the audition. The most important thing is that you are familiar with the lines and have an understanding of character and their interaction with others.

You will be put in scenes according to your character preference. If possible, it would be useful if you were open to being cast in a role other than the one you audition for.

Depending on numbers, we will run the scenes as a whole group, swapping actors in and out in a workshop format.

Please let me know if you find any difficulty in reading or if there are any other circumstances which may impede you in audition. You can contact me here.

Members of the global community are very much invited and encouraged to come along to the audition.

THE AUDITION SCENES

The following extracts will be used in the audition.

ROSIE

p7-8 (MONOLOGUE): From; “Then he wakes up and he look at me…” to; “And I know that I have to go home.”

p75-76 (with FRAN and BOB): From; “I’ve arranged to stay on someone’s couch until I find somewhere.” to; “I’ll shift my car.”

p82-83 (MONOLOGUE): From; “I hang up. I get out of the car.” to; “And it goes on. Life. It goes on.”

FRAN

p70-72 (with BOB): From; “You can’t love someone for thirty years straight.” to; “You and me?”

p25-27 (with PIP): From; “Is this about Steve?” to; “Lying in the sun like you were Princess Bloody Muck instead of watching your sister.”

BOB

p70-72 (with FRAN): From; “You can’t love someone for thirty years straight.” to; “You and me?”

p64-66 (with BEN): From; “Go on.” to; “Who even let you into this house?”

BEN

p64-66 (with BOB): From; “Go on.” to; “Who even let you into this house?”

p36-37 (with BOB and FRAN): From, “What’s that parked in the drive?” to; “I’ll take you for a spin if you want?”

PIP

p41-42 (MONOLOGUE): From; “I was ready. For him.” to; “My love, Pip.”

p25-27 (with FRAN): From; “Is this about Steve?” to; “Lying in the sun like you were Princess Bloody Muck instead of watching your sister.”

p23 (MONOLOGUE): From; “This garden is the world.” to; “I was grounded for the rest of Year 9 and never drank sweet wine again.”

MARK

p56 (MONOLOGUE): From; “I want them to drop me at the airport and keep going.” to; “Mark Price will just be someone I used to know.”

p49-51 (with FRAN): From; “Come on, Mum. We all know that you steer this ship in a storm.” to; “Not if you’re going to go out and get one.”