Proof!

Looks like a good one coming up this week – here’s more from the Community Theatre’s Jan Bollwinkel-Smith:

We’ve Got PROOF!

What happens when there’s a distinct possibility that a child might inherit a parent’s talent—and their madness?

The cast, from left: Natalie, Mike, Douglas, and Julie

David Auburn’s play, Proof,  which won both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony for “Best Play” in 2001, brings that question to the Whittier stage THIS Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 2 pm.

This combination mystery, romance and drama—with a little humor thrown in—centers on Catherine (played by Natalie King), a troubled young woman who has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father (Michael Herber), a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her sister, Claire (Julie Greene); and the attentions of Hal (Douglas Schirmer), 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, Catherine—after sacrificing her youth to take care of her dad— now must fight to re-enter the world; and is drawn into the most difficult problem of all: how much of her father’s madness—or genius—will she inherit?

“Critics have called Proof  ‘a love letter to mathematics,’” says director Merritt Olsen.
“I think it’s much more. Mathematics is a metaphor. It could be about music, poetry, gardening or many other creative pursuits.”

Olsen adds: “The play is life affirming and smart (in a good way). I’m extremely proud of our actors and the look that our designers have been able to create.”

Plan ahead: Proof contains adult language.

The play continues Thursday through Saturday, March 1-3 at 7:30 pm.

And…after the show…
After the Whittier stage performance on Friday, February 24, the cast and crew will remain on stage for a “talk back” with the audience to answer any questions about the production.

Following the show on Friday, March 2, Dr. Garrett M. Odell—an applied mathematician and theoretical biologist from UW Friday Harbor Labs— will speak about “Mathematicians Language in Everyday Speech.”

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