Things I Know to Be True (2017) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Bob Price is Fran's husband and the family’s steady anchor. He speaks with quiet patience, aims to protect his family, and navigates grief with restrained openness. He holds onto hope and a sense of duty even as reveals about his children unfold. His gentle, optimistic presence keeps the family tethered to one another.

• 👪 Family pillar
• 🗺️ Travel dreams
• 🕊️ Resilience

Fran is the family matriarch whose practical savings and steady expectations mask a longing for stability. She contemplates paths apart from her long marriage yet remains devoted to keeping the family intact. Her death in a car crash becomes the emotional fulcrum of the story, forcing forgiveness and memory to take center stage.

• 💔 Matriarch
• 🧭 Love and loyalty
• 💸 Saving and secrets

Rosie is the eldest daughter who returns from a European getaway changed by a troubling encounter in Berlin. Her trajectory adds tension to the family as her bond with Fran and the siblings evolves. She embodies the sense of travel and independence that marks the newer generation.

• 🌍 Adventurer
• ✈️ Gap-year traveler
• 💬 Family ties

Pip leaves her husband and two children to live in Vancouver, seeking a fresh start. Her emotional distance from the family widens, but a letter reconnects her with Fran and hints at healing from a painful upbringing. Her choices illuminate the costs and consequences of independence.

• 🌍 Global seeker
• 💔 Estrangement
• 📨 Reconciliation

Ben is the younger son who clashes with his father and hides a troubling path that includes skimming money to fund drugs and flashier appearances. His actions reveal a restless desire for escape and status while exposing the fragility of family trust. The reveal of his money-raising method ties back to the family’s vulnerability.

• 💊 Risk-taking
• 🕵️‍♂️ Secrecy
• 💸 Consequences

Mia, who is introduced as Mark Price, comes out as transgender and outlines plans to move to Sydney for hormone therapy. Her journey challenges family assumptions and tests the limits of acceptance. The transition reframes relationships, highlighting courage, identity, and love within the Price family.

• 🌈 Identity
• 🧭 Self-discovery
• 💬 Family dialogue

The Price family forms the core of the drama, with long-standing bonds strained by secrets, infidelity, and loss. Each member carries unspoken fears and loyalties that drive their choices. The play uses intimate domestic scenes to show how love, duty, and guilt shape a family's resilience.

Mia's coming-out and the exploration of gender identity test the parents' beliefs and the siblings' relationships. Pip's personal decisions also reflect shifting identities and independence. The dynamics reveal how identity can redefine loyalty and belonging within a family.

Fran's sudden death triggers a cascade of grief across the family, forcing confrontations and forgiveness. The funeral and the emotional closures reshape relationships and reveal past hurts. Grief is shown not only as sorrow but as a catalyst for truth-telling and reconciliation.

Hidden motivations and unspoken histories surface throughout the narrative, from financial pretenses to past abuse and hidden desires. The characters reveal half-truths that stain trust and force difficult conversations. The uncovering of these secrets tests the strength of family ties and personal honesty.