When David Auburn's Proof won the Tony and Pulitzer in 2001, it became the new millennium's blockbuster on the scale of other recent hits like Art, Wit, and How I Learned to Drive. While the show is currently enjoying a successful run on Broadway, and work has commenced on a National Tour and television production, Arizona Theatre Company and Associate Artistic Director Samantha K. Wyer managed to secure the regional rights to this work. On the surface, Wyer has wisely offered an almost direct remount of the original Broadway production. Subtle differences, though, shade the work in ways that make it uniquely hers. Many of these changes work well, even to the point of allowing me to enjoy the last ten minutes of the show, something I did not do when I saw the original Broadway production last February. Other differences are not as successful. Overall, however, Wyer and ATC have done an excellent job of offering Tucson and Phoenix the chance to experience a work that other larger cities will not see for years.
The mathematical simplicity of this four-person play belies the emotional and historical complexities that swirl around its players. Auburn brings such varied themes as genetics, genius, and madness together, and places them into the parameters of father/daughter, sister/sister, student/teacher and romantic relationships. The title is a triple entendre, for as numbers are the language of this play and a mathematical proof are central to the script, protaganist Catherine must also prove to herself and those around her the levels of her recently deceased father Robert's brilliance and mental illness she has inherited, while at the same time proving the strength of the bonds she has with her sister Claire and her father's protégé Hal.
Wyer's blocking and pacing is well handled. She trusts the words to carry the evening, allowing for a measured flow of action. One of the few directorial problems rests in the exaggerated way that she has directed Angela Pierce's Catherine. While most of the performance is exact, there is a time at the end of the first act where Wyer allows Pierce to indicate a bit too much her character's idiosyncrasies and secret. Conversely, Wyer and Pierce have found a way to present the potentially pat ending of Auburn's script in such a way as to drizzle rather than dollop hope onto the slightly ambiguous ending.
The quadrangle cast has a wonderful chemistry, one that allows the audience to accept and embrace the complex relationships. The strained bond between Pierce's Catherine and Courtney Peterson's take-charge Claire is brimming with tension. Peterson translates Claire's strong will with a mix of vocal inflections, posturing, and furtive looks. Pierce reacts to this life-long control with subtle resistance, playing the straight man more often than not and showing only glimpses of an edge. The paternal love between Pierce and Traber Burns' Robert is strengthened by its naturalness. Whether bickering over a meal or combating mental instability, the support they feel for each other is always constant. Marc Aden Gray steps into this family and gives his realistic-yet-hopeful character a quiet urgency. Hal has his own fears about his professional life, but he manages them, and his desire for Catherine, with the methodical patience of a mathematician tackling thorny problems. As the variations of the script widen, the cast becomes a solid unit and a joy to watch.
As in the original production, Scott Weldin has brought us an ultra-realistic backyard and rear of a dilapidated single family home near the University of Chicago. While the set is very similar to the original production, it is even more alive than its first incarnation, a pleasant surprise. The next-door neighbors even participate in subtle ways. Tracy Odishaw's lighting is full of Midwestern autumnal and winter hues, alternately bathing the set in warm ambers and steely blues. Sam Fleming's costumes are successful at both defining character and being easily switched for the several quick scene changes. Brian Jerome Peterson's sound design is solid.
ATC has scored another success by mounting a wonderful presentation of a seminal contemporary script. Arizona is the beneficiary of Artistic Director David Ira Goldstein and Managing Director Jessica Andrew's smart negotiations, scooping other larger regional theatres to offer us this powerful and compelling work.
Production Details:
Proof by David Auburn
Arizona Theatre Company
The Temple of Music and Art, Tucson
(520) 622-2823
January 25th - February 9th, 2002 &
The Herberger Theatre Center, Phoenix
(602) 256-6995
February 14th - March 3rd, 2002