One of the most acclaimed plays of recent seasons, Proof explores the unknowability of love as much as it does the mysteries of mathematics.
Play title: Proof
Author (s): David Auburn
Publisher: Faber and Faber, Inc. and Samuel French
Publication Date: 1999
Genre: Drama
Primary Discipline: Mathematics
Scientist (s): Sophie Germain
Source Texts: Unknown
Character Breakdown: 2 Males, 2 Females
Robert, Harold, Catherine, and Claire
Setting: The back porch of a house in Chicago
Time Period: Present day
Synopsis of Play: Proof explores the unknowability of love as much as it does the mysteries of mathematics. On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a young woman who has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, Robert, must deal not only with his death but with the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire, and with the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find vulnerable work in the 103 notebooks that Robert left behind. As Catherine confronts Hal’s affections and Claire’s plans for her life, she struggles to solve the most perplexing problem of all: How much of her father’s madness- or genius- will she inherit?
First Performance Date: 1999 at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick
First Producer: Manhattan Theatre Club
Performance History: Proof by David Auburn was originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club on May 23, 2000. Subsequently produced on Broadway by the Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, artistic director; Barry Grove, executive producer; Roger Berlind, Carole Shorenstein Hays, Jujamcyn Theatres, Ostar Enterprises, Daryl Roth, and Stuart Thompson on October 24, 2000. Proof was directed by Daniel Sullivan; sets were designed by John Lee Beatty; costumes by Jess Goldstein; lights by Pat Collins; and sound by John Gromada. The production stage manager was James Harker. The production starred Mary-Louise Parker as Catherine.
2001 Drama Desk Award for Best New Play, 2001 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Actress in a Play, 2001 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, 2001 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Best Play, 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 2001 Tony Award for Best Play, 2001 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, and 2001 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play.
Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/24/theater/theater-review-a-common-heart-and-uncommon-brain.html
http://variety.com/2000/legit/news/proof-4-1200464597/
http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/theater/reviews/3295/
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/world/Proof.html
http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/usplays/auburnd1.htm
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/world/Proof.html
http://www.aislesay.com/NY-PROOF.html
http://www.curtainup.com/proof.html
http://www.cottagetheatre.org/proof.html – website photos
Entered by Denise Gillman/Brooke Sanders
