Australian playwright Andrew Bovell is renowned for relationship dramas, including When the Rain Stops Falling and Speaking in Tongues (which became cinema’s Lantana). Things I Know To Be True is another, and soon to become a TV series starring Nicole Kidman.

This new production directed by Kitan Petkovski, who returns to Theatre Works after last year’s In the Club by Patricia Cornelius, doesn’t always make the most of Bovell’s dramatic tension. Belinda McClory’s performance is consistently powerful, however.

Belnda Mc Clory and Ben Grant in Things I Know To Be True. Photo © Andrew Bott Photography

Set in Adelaide, where it premiered in 2016, Things I Know To Be True follows a pivotal year for the suburban Price family. Fran, a nurse, and Bob, who took a redundancy package from a car manufacturer a while back, have worked hard to build a good life for their four now-adult children.

Rosie returns early from what was supposed to be a life-defining gap year in Europe, while Pip makes a major change to escape an unfulfilling marriage. Ben is trying hard to fit in with his with high-flying colleagues, including by purchasing a...