AQA GCSE Drama Student Book: Revised Edition

Hallett Cove, Adelaide Synopsis SET PLAY 3: Things I Know to be True by Andrew Bovell 3 It Begins Like is In an Australian suburb, Bob Price , a former car factory worker in his 60s, stares at a phone, while his four adult children narrate his fears. At the end of the scene, the phone rings and he answers it. Berlin Bob’s daughter, Rosie , is on a train platform in Berlin after travelling alone around Europe for three months. When she video-calls home, she pretends to be having a great time because she doesn’t want her family to be disappointed. She describes (to the audience) meeting a beautiful boy, Emmanuel. ey spent three days together and, just as she begins to imagine a future with him, he steals from her and disappears. She makes a list of all the things she knows. One of these is that she needs to go home. Home Bob’s wife, Fran , a nurse, reminds him to pick up their grandchildren. Unannounced, Rosie arrives. Fran calls Rosie’s siblings to tell them to come over as Rosie is back. Fran guesses that a boy has hurt Rosie. Rosie’s married sister, Pip , and brothers, Ben and Mark , arrive. ey squabble about family issues: Mark breaking up with his girlfriend and how much Fran helps Ben and Pip. When left alone in the garden with Bob, Rosie says that she fell in love with the wrong guy and that she tried to ‘grow up’. Autumn Pip re ects on all the important things that have happened in the garden. She remembers seeing her mother cry and bash her head against a tree. Rosie and Fran nd her. Pip tells Fran that she is leaving her husband, Steve. Pip remembers a time when she was 14 and baby Rosie was hurt when she should have been looking after her. Fran was so angry she tore out some of Pip’s hair. Fran tells Bob that Pip is leaving Steve. Pip says she doesn’t love Steve. Fran accuses Pip of having another man. Pip announces she is taking a new job in Vancouver and leaving the children with Steve. Pip and Fran argue. When Fran goes inside, Pip denies to Bob that she has another man. Bob encourages her to grab the new job opportunity with both hands and that he will help with the children. When Pip leaves, Fran tells Bob that Pip was lying, but he says all the children know that a lie to his face would ‘kill’ him. Fran and Bob embrace for an ‘unforgiving moment’. COMPONENT 1 UNDERSTANDING DRAMA 72