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Production gets to essential truths of ‘Proof’
By Dorothy Velasco
For The Register-Guard
Proof, the Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play by David Auburn, is a mystery, a love story, and evidence, if not scientific proof, of mankind’s ability to learn and express compassion.
Now playing at the Soreng Theatre, the first-rate Willamette Repertory Theatre production directed by Pat Patton is thoroughly absorbing. Although the title refers in part to the mathematical proof of a new theory, you don’t even need to know how to balance your checkbook to enjoy this thoughtful, touching show.
Proof hinges on the difficult relationship between Robert, a schizophrenic, and his 25-year-old daughter and caretaker, Catherine.
Robert, who recently died but still talks to Catherine, had been a renowned mathematical genius at the University of Chicago. Sadly, he peaked at age 23 and later slipped into madness, spending his final years writing meaningless formulas in more than 100 notebooks.
Robert’s wife died young, and Catherine, his younger daughter, felt duty bound to drop out of college to care for him. Although Catherine is severely depressed, sometimes spending days in bed, the central pleasure of her life is math, which her father taught her since childhood.
Now Robert’s funeral is imminent, and his officious elder daughter, Claire, has flown in from New York to take charge of arrangements and tell Catherine how to lead her life. Hal, a former graduate student of Robert’s, is going through his notebooks to see if he was able to do any legitimate work during his madness.
Among all the gibberish he finds a brilliant 40-page proof. Did Robert write it? If not, who did? Hal and Catherine seem to be falling in love, but when she tells him she wrote the proof, he can’t believe it’s possible.
Hal, at 28, knows he’ll never be a star, but at least he has his doctorate. Claire tells him that although Catherine is a dropout she inherited some of her father’s genius. If she did write the proof, she’ll have a terrific battle ahead of her as she tries to overcome the historical prejudice against women in science.
Meanwhile, the term “proof,” applied to the relationships among the four characters, represents how people prove their trust, respect and love -- never simple even in the best of times. How do we pay our debts to family and those we love? How do we forgive and get beyond the wrongs we do to each other?
These are the themes that give the play such value, and which veteran director Patton and his excellent cast elucidate so well. The play is delightfully witty. And Patton knows how to let the humor roll out naturally but often unexpectedly.
The actors are all up to the task. Wesley Bishop, formerly with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, convincingly conveys Robert’s warmth and intelligence during his good times, and his belligerence and fears during his pitifully mad times.
Kate Cook, in her Willamette Rep debut, is dazzling as Catherine, so depressed from the grueling task of caring for her father that she believes she may have inherited not only his genius but also his madness. She can be furious at the other characters, and rightfully so, but she manages to pull herself out of anger.
Quinn Mattfeld, a former Eugene resident now working in New York, is charming as Hal. He is so eager to be liked, so desirous to make amends and find the truth, that we forgive him his petty lack of imagination.
Megan Smith, Willamette Rep alum who now lives in San Francisco, is very funny as the rigid, manipulative Claire, with her precious little gestures and smirks. She stands ramrod straight, and even her clothes are stiff.
All of the actors are wonderfully engaged with each other, using subtle body language to convey their constantly evolving emotions.
Nadya Geras-Carson’s set design is ingenious and symbolic. We see the back porch and back side of a decrepit two-story house. Like Robert, it’s falling apart, with whole sections entirely missing and other pieces seeming to float in space.
The evocative lighting is by Michael Peterson, the sound by Jim Rusby and costumes by Maiya Becker.
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Dorothy Velasco, a Springfield playwright, reviews theater for The Register-Guard.
By Dorothy Velasco
For The Register-Guard
Proof, the Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play by David Auburn, is a mystery, a love story, and evidence, if not scientific proof, of mankind’s ability to learn and express compassion.
Now playing at the Soreng Theatre, the first-rate Willamette Repertory Theatre production directed by Pat Patton is thoroughly absorbing. Although the title refers in part to the mathematical proof of a new theory, you don’t even need to know how to balance your checkbook to enjoy this thoughtful, touching show.
Proof hinges on the difficult relationship between Robert, a schizophrenic, and his 25-year-old daughter and caretaker, Catherine.
Robert, who recently died but still talks to Catherine, had been a renowned mathematical genius at the University of Chicago. Sadly, he peaked at age 23 and later slipped into madness, spending his final years writing meaningless formulas in more than 100 notebooks.
Robert’s wife died young, and Catherine, his younger daughter, felt duty bound to drop out of college to care for him. Although Catherine is severely depressed, sometimes spending days in bed, the central pleasure of her life is math, which her father taught her since childhood.
Now Robert’s funeral is imminent, and his officious elder daughter, Claire, has flown in from New York to take charge of arrangements and tell Catherine how to lead her life. Hal, a former graduate student of Robert’s, is going through his notebooks to see if he was able to do any legitimate work during his madness.
Among all the gibberish he finds a brilliant 40-page proof. Did Robert write it? If not, who did? Hal and Catherine seem to be falling in love, but when she tells him she wrote the proof, he can’t believe it’s possible.
Hal, at 28, knows he’ll never be a star, but at least he has his doctorate. Claire tells him that although Catherine is a dropout she inherited some of her father’s genius. If she did write the proof, she’ll have a terrific battle ahead of her as she tries to overcome the historical prejudice against women in science.
Meanwhile, the term “proof,” applied to the relationships among the four characters, represents how people prove their trust, respect and love -- never simple even in the best of times. How do we pay our debts to family and those we love? How do we forgive and get beyond the wrongs we do to each other?
These are the themes that give the play such value, and which veteran director Patton and his excellent cast elucidate so well. The play is delightfully witty. And Patton knows how to let the humor roll out naturally but often unexpectedly.
The actors are all up to the task. Wesley Bishop, formerly with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, convincingly conveys Robert’s warmth and intelligence during his good times, and his belligerence and fears during his pitifully mad times.
Kate Cook, in her Willamette Rep debut, is dazzling as Catherine, so depressed from the grueling task of caring for her father that she believes she may have inherited not only his genius but also his madness. She can be furious at the other characters, and rightfully so, but she manages to pull herself out of anger.
Quinn Mattfeld, a former Eugene resident now working in New York, is charming as Hal. He is so eager to be liked, so desirous to make amends and find the truth, that we forgive him his petty lack of imagination.
Megan Smith, Willamette Rep alum who now lives in San Francisco, is very funny as the rigid, manipulative Claire, with her precious little gestures and smirks. She stands ramrod straight, and even her clothes are stiff.
All of the actors are wonderfully engaged with each other, using subtle body language to convey their constantly evolving emotions.
Nadya Geras-Carson’s set design is ingenious and symbolic. We see the back porch and back side of a decrepit two-story house. Like Robert, it’s falling apart, with whole sections entirely missing and other pieces seeming to float in space.
The evocative lighting is by Michael Peterson, the sound by Jim Rusby and costumes by Maiya Becker.
------
Dorothy Velasco, a Springfield playwright, reviews theater for The Register-Guard.
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