Things I Know to be True by Black Swan State Theatre Company

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Category: Arts & Culture; Published: 01 June 2023

Things-I-Know-to-Be-True-Black-Swan
Things I Know to be True, Black Swan State Theatre Company
Photo Credit: Daniel J Grant

My partner and I sat in the gorgeous Heath Ledger Theatre amidst a packed house for the opening night of Black Swan State Theatre Company’s Things I know to be True.

An Aussie family with 4 kids, living in the burbs of Booragoon, just going about their daily lives, the family members sometimes bickering – but more or less a happy family – with the young adult children busy with work and their love lives and the parents heading towards an empty nest.

That is the premise of Things I know to be True. Though as events start to unfurl we get swept into a storm cloud of seemingly unexpected and uncontrollable events. Each character cleverly narrates their unique perspective and inner thoughts and feelings on what is going on in their life.

Dramatic and poised to ignite like a lit fuse on a stick of dynamite, the fireworks between family members catapults between deception and the plain truths, until a catastrophic event takes place that brings matters to a head and leaves the family in major grief.

How well do we really know our loved ones ?

And is it only when we lose a loved one that we get closer as a family unit?

Things left unsaid cannot be said. Things said in anger cannot be taken back.

Audience members are swept into the world of the Price family and these and many other provoking questions are left unanswered.

Contemporary themes of family, motherhood, careers, gender and sexuality, and retirement and finding one’s way reflective of one’s current situation in life, are intricately explored with a deft touch.

Director Kate Champion and Writer Andrew Bovell have unfurled a beauty of an Aussie drama for theatre goers in Perth.

Things I know to be True by Black Swan State Theatre Company is on at the State Theatre Centre of WA until the 18th June.