★★★★★
Wow. Fantastic. Emotional Rollercoaster. I absolutely love Frantic Assembly and I had to go see this piece of theatre. For those of you who aren't familiar with their works they use physical theatre to show the emotion of a scene. They make the set a part of the scene and do it so fluidly you can't help but fall in love with it. With a star-studded cast of G list celebs like Ewan Stewart (Captain Murdoch in Titanic) and Natalie Casey (Donna in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps) I was ready to be entertained by Frantic once more. This play was based around family and how a mother and father can't hold on to their kids for any longer, they have to grow up and leave. It opened with the ending, a phone call at 12am that left us in suspense. The opening monologue involved the character of Rosie, the youngest daughter, boasting about her gap year across Europe but then dropping the bombshell that she came home as she was robbed by a man she fell in love with. Each character had a different monologue that they had to tell their parents, well expect for Rosie, she said hers out to us first which I liked. Each monologue was just as strong as each others but you knew that they were all powerful in their own way. The character of Mark had to tell his parents that he wanted to have a sex-change and become a woman, this was the most shocking monologue of the four as both his parents didn't agree with him. At least with Ben's monologue on stealing money he had the mother on his side. Whereas Pip's monologue about leaving her husband and kids to start a new job in Vancouver had the fathers approval. So the fact that the mum and dad share different views on their children's dreams and aspirations shows how much they care about the consequences. Bob, the father, never approved of both his son's choices and how they're changing their lives for the better or worse. Whereas Fran never approved of Pip or Rosie's choices of leaving their home town and becoming a new woman. The idea of a male disapproving a male and a female disapproving another female was a fantastic choice as it was relatable to modern day parenting. The emotional aspect hits you all the time. From the parents talking to Rosie about her uni choices and that she will be missed or to Mark actually leaving his whole family behind. However the most emotional part of the play was when the father heard the news that his wife had died. He tore up the whole garden they had built together, the garden was the main comfort zone for every family member, they always had memories of that garden. The fact Bob tore it all up shows that he's been pushed to the limit, he cant keep on living with al these memories if it isn't without Fran. Seeing a father cry is never okay as society has taught us that fathers are strong and never cry. Parents in general hardly ever cry in front of their children. The tragedy this family went through in the space of a few years brought me to tears. The relatable story of parenting and moving away from home mixed with the death of a family member is something I've personally been involved in. The set. Wow. Omg. Little but effective. They only used a few items for the set however it improved the scene greatly. The movement of the chairs and tables were so slick that you had to congratulate them on how smooth it ran. I kept watching every set change for a mistake, but there wasn't one. At one point Mark pulled the table forward from Pip and she moved her hand around the mug on the table. She never looked a the mug but she knew it was there. You can tell hours and hours were spent on how the set can be part of every scene. Physical theatre is something they incorporated too and the idea of movement mixed with emotion is brilliant! It takes away some of the speaking but it makes the family connections more personal. I would 100% recommend this show to someone, I would with any Frantic Assembly piece because of how hard-hitting their pieces are. The emotion that they use is so strong that you can't help feel something inside of you. Yes I cried in the theatre but I wasn't the only one. The last time I cried in a theatre was when I went to see Lovesong directed by...Frantic Assembly. No other theatre company have come close to moving me to tears. I can't wait to see their next piece. ★★★★★
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To read more on Frantic Assembly and book tickets click below:
www.franticassembly.co.uk/productions/things-i-know-to-be-true |