Prove
it
Proof
Written by David Auburn
Directed by Tom Wojtunik
Broccoli
Theater at the Variety Boys & Girls Club of
Equity Showcase (Fri & Sat at
Review by Adam Cooper
David Auburn’s
Pulitzer prize-winning play, Proof, is
a dramatic thriller of a play that invokes the esoterica of abstract
mathematics and the all-too-familiar terrain of dysfunctional family
relationships. In a plot laced with regularly-timed plot twists, the mystery centers
on Catherine (Catherine Yeager), the
25-year-old daughter of pioneering yet highly disturbed Chicago-based mathematician
Robert (Richard Vernon). Friendless,
uncelebrated, and seemingly directionless after years of being a caregiver for
her mentally celebrated yet challenged father, Catherine is forced to confront
her inner demons and her external realities as her raison-d’etre ceases to be.
Complicating matters
for Catherine is her sister Claire (Catia
Ojeda), who returns from
Shaking up
Catherine’s private world even further is Hal (Richard D. Busser), a former grad student of Robert’s who is now a
math professor at the
Not until the end
of the first act does the play warm up to its ostensibly primal mystery. With
mathematics and brilliance being the principal bonding point between father and
daughter, the seemingly lost time spent with Catherine as caregiver leads
ironically to the creation and exposure of the eponymous ground-breaking,
supposedly unsolvable proof involving prime numbers. Was this the undiscovered
work of Catherine’s father or did Catherine herself craft the treatise? Underneath,
however, is the play’s subtextual and more vital question: can Catherine
achieve a unique identity out from under her legendary parent, and will that
identity be plagued by the very mental illness that squelched her father’s
productivity in his later years?
There is a
particular challenge for a production team to put on a play that dabbles in archaic
personages like Gauss and disputes on mathematical proofs, as these subjects are
not typically what entice an audience to plug into a theater piece. Indeed, the
conversational yet uneconomical text plays like a disposable work of fiction
where characters essentially are relegated to service predictable plot twists
and where thematic analysis stays safely on the surface level. The heavy-handed
crafting and clockwork nature of each scene routinely concludes with plot twists
that come across as pat and predictable and lacking in the necessary emotional
payoff. Thus, the spice of powerful characterizations and the magic of
transformative moments are essential to make such an effort come alive.
Tom Wojtunik’s uninspired direction unfortunately does
not elevate the character interactions to their critical place of prominence.
Performances are persistently one-note for much of the production and lack the
punch and depth necessary to make the thriller riveting and vital. Subtleties
of relationships are lost as moments are not savored. The strongest portrayal comes
from Busser as his character struggles with motivations, doubts, disbelief, and
passion. Michael P. Kramer’s worn-out
porch set design exudes a strong sense of a well-used yet unsettlingly unstable
home. Erik J. Michael’s lighting
design and Meredith E. Magoun’s
costume design are workable yet unremarkable in this production that never rises
above being a not-that-inspirational crowd pleaser.
Writing: 1
Directing: 1
Acting: 1
Sets: 2
Costumes: 1
Lighting/Sound:
1
Copyright 2007
by Adam Cooper
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