Proof
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Single Admission (everyone) is $20.00 per seat.
Opening Night Admission is $15.00 per seat.
Group Discount available for 10 or more seats.
Winner of the 2001 Tony Award® for Best Play and Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
THE STORY: On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father’s madness—or genius—will she inherit?
Types: Full-Length Play
Genre: Drama
*** All Ages are Relative ***
Catherine – A young woman, 25 years old, who inherited much of her father’s mathematical genius and, she fears, his “instability” as well; she gave up her life and schooling to take care of her father until his recent death.
Claire – Catherine’s older sister, a practical and business-minded woman who has been comfortably successful in her work and relationships. She left Robert and Catherine behind, distancing herself from the run-down family home of her youth. She left the family to make a new life for herself in New York City.
Robert – A recently deceased mathematician praised for his groundbreaking work in his youth, but whose later years were plagued by delusional mental illness; he is seen in Catherine’s imagination and in flashbacks.
Harold (Hal) Dobbs – One of Robert’s last Ph.D. students during the one year his idol and mentor’s illness went into remission, at least enabling Robert to teach, if not continue his own creative mathematical work.
Catherine – Johana Castro
Robert – Paul Kellerman
Claire – Katie Lietz Bailey
Hal – Richard Luna
Director – Rossi C. Smith
Stage Manager / Props – Lauren Jimenez
Assistant Stage Manager, Light/Sound Operator – Drake Rodgers
Set & Costume Design – Rossi C. Smith
Set Construction – Josh Somers
Light and Sound / Music Design – Rossi C. Smith
Albert Einstein once said, “The only difference between genius and madness is that genius has its limits.”
The first time I read David Auburn’s “Proof”, I was incredibly moved at how respectfully he addresses the subject of mental health. He didn’t dance around it, belittle it, hide behind it or humorize it. He unapologetically put it front and center. However, the more I read, the more I came to see that this masterfully written play held several deeper meanings.
From the elements of Family Duty, Claire and Catherine share that mirror the dependent relationship Catherine had with her father, to the layers of the Trust involved when Catherine decides to open up to Hal about her groundbreaking discoveries…from the sliver of Legacy Catherine tries to carve out for herself outside of the shadow of her father’s legacy, to the elements of Genius Versus Madness illustrates how the brightest minds often grapple with the darest understanding, feeling and compromising while trying to find permission to be themselves.
I have done my best to honor these elements while adding my own personal style to it and present this story in a relatable way. I hope it comes across as the honest, kind, and yet real struggle I feel it to be.
On a personal note, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my cast and crew. This is my first time directing a production on any community theater stage and I could have not asked for a more talented and supportive group of people to work with or a more dedicated and professional stage manager. This has been an incredible experience, and I am grateful for the people here who have made this, made my maiden voyage of a directorial debut, such a fulfilling success. Thanks guys.
I hope you enjoy this show. Thank you for coming.
Rossi
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