Proof - 2007
An award-winning play about love and trust and family ties is the next offering at the Racine Theatre Guild. Proof, written by David Auburn, won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2001 and also won the Pulitzer Prize. “It combines elements of mystery and surprise with old-fashioned storytelling,” wrote one critic. Proof opens January 12 and plays four weekends through February 4.
The story introduces us to Catherine, a woman about to celebrate her 25th birthday. She has spent the last years caring for her father, a mathematician who was brilliant in his youth, but then suffered from mental instability. Her father has just died, and Catherine is plunged into coping with his funeral, facing her bossy but loving sister Claire, and dealing with Hal, a student of her father’s who wants to search his old notebooks.
Playwright Auburn weaves the story with humor and wit around flashbacks and even scenes from Catherine’s mind. We get to know the father Robert and see the fine line between genius and madness. We feel for Catherine, who sacrificed her own college career to care for her father. And we see the often difficult relationship between two sisters with different views on how best to deal with dad.
Through the whole play runs the thread of a mathematical “proof,” a paper that sets out a new math theory along with the logic that proves it. This stands in contrast to human relationships, which need to be taken on faith and cannot be proved.
Hal searches through all the professor’s scribblings and finds a brilliant new theory. But who wrote it? And can it be proved? Is Catherine in danger of losing her mind the way her father did? Is Hal interested in Catherine or using her to get the proof?
Critics were impressed with Auburn’s sensitive writing and natural dialogue, and it was deemed the best play of the year for the1999-2000 theatre season. A sampling of critical acclaim includes:
All four characters – whether loving, hating, encouraging or impeding one another – are intensely alive, complex, funny and human. Out of this curious quartet, Auburn creates emotionally and intellectually enveloping music. – John Simon, New Yorker
The play is beautifully and closely plotted… with characters behaving credibly and … the tension is handsomely sustained. – Clive Barnes, The New York Post
Veering gracefully from past to present and from reflection to confrontation, the playwright traces the development of his characters and plot with a scientist’s precision and a poet’s lyricism. – Elysa Gardner, USA Today
Once you see Proof you will find out what so impressed the critics and audiences when the show ran on Broadway. Performances of Proof are scheduled for 15 times on four weekends, from Friday, January 12 through Sunday, February 4. Call the box office for reservations and ticket information, at 633-4218. You won’t want to miss this award-winning play.
From the Managing/Artistic Director - Doug Instenes
Variety is the Spice of Life
One of the thrilling things about theatre is that you see a new world on stage each time you come. This season alone you have visited an upscale New York City apartment, a fishing lodge in Georgia, and Victorian England.
Now Proof is set on the back porch of an aging and neglected Chicago house.
You will find variety of other sorts at the Theatre Guild. Scrooge was a musical with a cast of 40. Proof is a drama with a cast of four. We go from a historical to a contemporary setting, and from familiar characters in a well-loved story to meeting new people with new problems.
And don’t let the word “drama” scare you. David Auburn won the coveted Pulitzer Prize with this play that is rich with humor and insights into human nature. It is not a “sad” play or a tragedy. While it isn’t a laugh-a-minute comedy, it has many funny moments in this truly heart-warming story.
We hope this play will give you something to think about and discuss on your way home. A cut-and-dried mathematical theory is either right or wrong; it can be proved or not. But human relationships are much more complex. How can you prove a feeling? Sometimes you just need to take a leap of faith.
Like many contempory plays, Proof does contain some adult language. However, this is not a play about bad language; it’s a well-written play about a family. That is why it has received critical acclaim thoughout the country.
On a personal note, everyone at the RTG would like to wish you and yours a happy New Year!
Proof
by David Auburn
Cast
Catherine ..... Courtney Jones
Robert ......... Todd Johnson
Hal .............. Robert Vanderloop
Claire .......... Melissa Hughes Ernest
Crew
Director .................... Douglas Instenes
Scenic Design ........... Tom Colwin
Technical Director ..... Kurt Oian
PSM ......................... Cindy David
Stage Manager .......... Jill Dexter
Asst. St. Mgrs. .......... Karen Hamilton & Suzanne Sikora
Costume Design ........ Fran Maccanelli
Light Design .............. Brian Schalk
Light Technician ........ Jon Eckblad
Sound Design ........... Eric Goodwin
Sound Technician ..... Marjorie Eckblad
Makeup ................... Sue Blaha
Props Chair ............. Heather Bumstead