“Things I Know to be True” is a family drama written by Australian author Andrew Bovell. Geordie Brookman and Scott Graham staged the play and showed it in the UK and the USA, where it became a success. An abundance of literary and dramatic devices, as well as special effects, draw the audience and critics’ attention. This essay aims to discuss the use of monologues in the play and examine how this dramatic convention allowed the writer and producers to convey their visions.
The theatre production starts with Rosie’s speech, which plays a crucial role in the whole drama. It is not a traditional monologue because it features unusual directing decisions and special effects. Rosie tells about her trip around Europe and the first love that has broken her heart (Things I Know to be True 02:22-10:26). She experiences strong emotions, and the directors enhance the effect by introducing movements and Rosie’s interaction with other characters. In the beginning, she is standing alone, surrounded by complete darkness that underlines her isolation and sets a melancholic tone. The lack of movement creates a feeling of tension on stage.
As the monologue progresses, someone’s arms appear from the darkness and start embracing Rosie. Then, the actors perform a kind of dance, and it also has its function of introducing other characters (Things I Know to be True 06:27). After that, they lift Rosie, and the audience can only see the girl effortlessly floating in the air (Things I Know to be True 08:09). It seems as though memories and love have elevated Rosie’s body and soul. This technique allows to show the emotional state of the main character, and it fills the audience with warmth and sympathy for Rosie. It appears that by introducing physical interaction, the directors wanted to show and emphasize the connection between the characters.
One of the devices in Rosie’s monologue is the use of the present tense. It is noteworthy that Rosie switches from the past to the present tense while telling the story. The experience of traveling on her own, meeting people, and falling in love is important for Rosie, and memories about it are still fresh in her mind. Thus, she talks as if she were in Berlin, experiencing these moments again. This grammatical feature of the speech livens up the narrative and makes the audience more involved in the action.
One can notice at least one use of repetition in the play. In the end, when Fran dies, Rosie repeats the same words she told in the first scene (Things I Know to be True 09:32; 01:52:24). This creates the cycle: the play returns to where it started. However, much has changed during this time, and Rosie has learned the things she did not know in the beginning. The repetition allows a writer and directors to highlight the ideas they find significant. This exerts a strong effect on the audience and makes them allocate greater attention to the repeated lines.
Another important monologue is delivered by Pip Price, the eldest child in the family. It reveals Pip’s strained and uneasy relationship with her mother, Fran. The way Pip talks about her shows how distanced the daughter feels from Fran. In the scene, Pip is sitting in the garden and remembers all the things that have happened here: the first kiss, cricket and tennis tournaments, Sunday barbeques, birthday parties, engagement, and her wedding (Things I Know to be True 24:27). She cannot part with these memories, and one can feel the pull of this home, which makes the siblings stay here. Pip repeats the phrase “this garden is the world,” which illustrates the use of such stylistic device as the metaphor (Things I Know to be True 24:22). This place is precious to all family members as it keeps the memories of all stages of their lives, so it appears to be the metaphor of life. It can also be treated as an allusion to “The Cherry Orchard” by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. In this play, the garden takes a central place, and the characters see the purpose and meaning of life in it. Although the atmosphere is strained, it is eased with humor that runs through the monologue and the whole drama.
The scene where Pip reads out her letter written to Fran takes a prominent position in the play. This monologue is notable as it discloses the mother-daughter relationship. Moreover, it is full of stylistic devices, such as rhetorical questions (Things I Know to be True 46:06). They make Pip’s words sound more powerful and make everyone present in the hall reflect on the situation. These questions are not meant to be answered but to ponder on them and stir emotions. The scene also features an allusion to Leonard Cohen’s song “Famous Blue Raincoat” (Things I Know to be True 46:53). It plays an essential role in the performance, and its inclusion in the scene is deliberate as it reflects the women’s emotional state in some respect.
Unusual chorographical and directorial decisions are worth mentioning as they turn a traditional monologue into one of the most memorable moments in the play. Firstly, it is Pip, who reads out the letter and not her mother. This allows the audience to know the situation from the daughter’s perspective and learn how she feels about the relationship with her mother. Secondly, Fran and Pip are sitting at the same table, but this proximity is delusive as there are oceans and continents between them. There is a chasm of misunderstanding that separates the mother from the daughter, and it is emphasized as well as possible with the physical proximity.
In conclusion, monologues tell much about characters and their feelings and allow the writer or the director to communicate their ideas. It is difficult to imagine a play without this theatrical convention, and “Things I Know to be True” is no exception. Apart from literary and dramatic devices, the work features unusual visual and physical effects that contribute to the audience’s immersion in the performance and provide a better understanding of the collaborators’ vision.
Work Cited
Things I Know to be True. By Andrew Bovell, directed by Scott Graham and Geordie Brookman, 2018, The Lyric Hammersmith, London. Performance.