This Much I Know
by Jonathan Spector

Off-Broadway

This Much I Know Book Cover — This Much I Know Cover

Highlights

Female

Male

120 mins Present Day Role(s) for Asian Actor(s) Multicultural Casting Unit Set/Multiple Settings Period Costumes

Synopsis

Lukesh is a professor who knows exactly how humans operate.

He literally teaches the subject.

But when the son of a white supremacist asks Lukesh to sponsor his thesis, and more personally, when his wife Natalya ups and leaves for Russia, Lukesh struggles to make sense of everything with his typical black-and-white understanding of the human brain.

He is faced with an ultimatum: think about life in a new light, or sink.

Jumping back and forth through time, This Much I Know weaves in stories of Svetlana Alliluyeva – Stalin’s daughter – who has become disillusioned with her father’s ideas and considers defecting to the United States.

Her story mirrors the story of Lukesh, Natalya and his student Harold; their parallel journeys explore how a person changes their mind, if we are responsible for things we cannot control, and after it all, if something that was once submerged can still float.

Press Reviews

"This much I know about Jonathan Spector’s enthralling and exhilarating This Much I Know: It’s a head trip and a half… A visionary script."
— DC Theater Arts

"This Much I Know is a three-hander with the oomph of an Oppenheimer… A masterfully built puzzle-drama that pursues an entertaining, emotional and surprisingly energizing inquiry into how and how well we can ever know anything – even about ourselves."
— Washington Post

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
B/Natalya Female, 30s-40s. Any ethnicity. Speaks with a nondescript American accent. Also plays Svetlana Alliluyeva (daughter of Joseph Stalin).	female	30s	Female, 30s-40s. Any ethnicity. Speaks with a nondescript American accent. Also plays Svetlana Alliluyeva (daughter of Joseph Stalin).
C/Harold Male, late teens/early 20s. White. Speaks with a nondescript American accent. Also plays lots of ensemble.	male	20s	Male, late teens/early 20s. White. Speaks with a nondescript American accent. Also plays lots of ensemble.
A/Lukesh Male, 50s, South Asian. Speaks with a British accent. Also plays Joseph Stalin, Brajesh Singh, and ensemble.	male	50s	Male, 50s, South Asian. Speaks with a British accent. Also plays Joseph Stalin, Brajesh Singh, and ensemble.