by Andrew Bovell. Directed by Rosanna Preston
It wasn’t meant to be like this. I thought they’d be… better versions of us
Wednesday 21 – Saturday 24 January and
Tuesday 27 – Saturday 31 January at 7.30pm.
Matinées on Saturdays 24 and 31 January at 3pm.
At the Tower Theatre, Stoke Newington
Bob and Fran have brought up their four children in the family home but now they’ve all moved away, except for youngest daughter Rosie who returns home unexpectedly from a European trip. This in turn shakes up the established family hierarchies and, throughout the changing seasons of a year, we witness the many different ways family love can be tested and stretched to breaking point, as old fashioned values clash with modern expectations until a final shattering event unites them.
Described as “beautifully touching” as well as “funny and bold”, Things I Know to be True began as a collaboration between State Theatre Company South Australia and Frantic Assembly. The play enjoyed a hugely successful tour of Australia and the UK, and was revived at the Lyric Hammersmith in 2017 when the Telegraph gave it 5 stars, calling it “a thing of beauty.”
Running Time: 2 hours (including a 15 min interval)
Age guidance: 14+ Content advice
Buy Tickets:
Wednesday 21 January at 7.30pm
Thursday 22 January at 7.30pm
Friday 23 January at 7.30pm
Saturday 24 January at 3pm
Saturday 24 January at 7.30pm
Tuesday 27 January at 7.30pm
Wednesday 28 January at 7.30pm
Thursday 29 January at 7.30pm
Friday 30 January at 7.30pm
Saturday 31 January at 3pm
Saturday 31 January at 7.30pm
Cast
Fran : Sue Brodie
Bob : John McSpadyen
Pip : Rachel Bothamley
Mark / Mia : David Lindley-Pilley
Ben : Bailey Finch
Rosie : Madison Leach
Production Team
Director : Rosanna Preston
Set Design : Angelika Michitsch
Costume Design : Christine Bowmaker
Lighting Design : Rob Hebblethwaite
Sound Design : Colin Guthrie
Stage Manager : Laurence Tuerk
Assistant and Movement Director : Trinidad Prieto Asensio
ASM : Neha Das
Lighting Operator : Jonathan Ringshall
Sound Operator : Chris Shiel
Set Construction and Get-in : Keith Syrett, Gary O’Keefe, Max Batty, Jude Chalk, Alex Burton, Isabel Alexander, Michelle Balgobin, Alex Kampmann, Abigail Kelley, Phillip Ley, Fabrel Párraga-Michitsch, Florence Nettleton, Wendy Parry, Fiona Tabastot, Nicola Vasey and members of the cast & crew.
Photography by Pau Ros
 Sue Brodie joined the Tower in 2006 and has performed in a number of shows at the Bridewell, Theatro Technis, the Minack and now at the Tower’s new permanent home in Stoke Newington. She was most recently seen in Ursa Major, part of the Tower’s Spring Forward season of four short plays in 2022. |
 Since joining the Tower in 1990, John McSpadyen is now in his 36th year as a Tower member, having been an ASM, SM, technical operator, set designer, actor and director. He has been onstage in (amongst others) The Factory Girls, Translations, Dealer’s Choice, Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll, Farragut North, Hindle Wakes, Pravda, Harvey and Distant Early Warning. His productions as director include Copenhagen, Faith Healer, The Constant Wife, Bash, Speaking in Tongues, Farewell to the Theatre, Henry V and Enchanted April. John would like to dedicate his performance to his late father, Robert. |
 2025 marked 10 years that Rachel Bothamley has been a member of the Tower Theatre. Her on-stage credits include Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet, Susannah in Bedroom Farce, Alice in Mosquitoes and Emina in Old Bridge. Off stage credits includes ASM for Much Ado About Nothing and The Fan, Costume Design for Trainspotting and Writers Room ‘Home’ and Assistant Director for Kafka’s Dick and Death and the Maiden. The past few years her attention has been taken further off-stage as a member of the Management Committee championing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Safeguarding within the company and most often than not you’ll see her as a regular working behind the bar! She’s excited to be back on stage and to be playing Pip in a beautiful play alongside a wonderful team. By day Rachel is Head of Engagement and co-director of revolutionary suicide prevention charity Body & Soul. |
 David Lindley-Pilley discovered London’s thriving am-dram circuit back in 2022 and has since starred in KDC Theatre’s productions of Henry IV, The Bus (including a bizarre tour to Bulgaria) and A Weekend Away at the Hotel Decevoir. He’s also had a peek at the scene in South London, with roles in Putney Theatre Company’s Scandaltown and the Debut Theatre Company’s Doubt. This is David’s third time performing with the Tower, playing the office grump in After Life and, most recently, the hotel manager in Festen . |
 Bailey Finch is a professional speechwriter and graduate of the University of Oxford, where he performed in various plays (including as Van Helsing in Dracula, the Cardinal in The Duchess of Malfi, and Helenus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and short films, winning ‘Best Actor’ at the 2023 Oxford University Short Film Festival. He also directed a production of Lady Windermere’s Fan. His first role at university was Ben in Things I Know To Be True, the role he is now reprising for his first production with the Tower Theatre Company. Bailey is a member of The Questors Theatre Company (performing there last year as George Balfour in Posh) and the Oxford Rep Company (touring with them in a production of Twelfth Night last autumn). He also starred in Your Time Is Now, Eliza Maroon at the Camden Fringe Festival, which was nominated for the Standing Ovation Award by London Pub Theatres. |
 Madison Leach is making her Tower debut in this production, playing Rosie. She graduated with an Acting Diploma from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, playing Electra in their final production of Idomeneus (2025). Before moving back to London to pursue a career in acting, Madison studied Social Anthropology at university, which she believes impacts her approach to new characters. She is so excited to be a part of this brilliant cast. |
 Things I Know to be True is Rosanna Preston‘s second play as a director at the Tower. Other plays directed by her include Prodigal as part of the Tower’s Nick Hern Shorts evening and Visitors with the Woodhouse Players. Rosanna is also an actor and has appeared in several Tower productions, most recently The Children. |