When we think of the great American playwrights, we think of Arthur Miller and Eugene O'Neill and Lillian Hellman, in earlier generations; Wendy Wasserstein and Tony Kushner, Jon Robin Baitz and Donald Margulies today: They are always writing about big ideas and wrapping them in family squabbles that get us where we live. Welcome David Auburn to the club. PROOF is the one you won't want to miss this fall.
...combines elements of mystery and surprise with old-fashioned storytelling to provide a compelling evening of theatre...[PROOF is a] smart and compassionate play of ideas.
PROOF surprises us with its aliveness...Mr. Auburn takes pleasure in knowledge...At the same time, he is unshowily fresh and humane, and he has written a lovely play.
[A] wonderfully funny...ambitiously constructed work...
After the death of her mathematical genius father, Catherine, who gave up her own study of mathematics to tend to him, claims that she is the author of a mathematical proof found in the attic among his unpublished, mostly incoherent notebooks by Hal, one of his former students. But what "proof" does Catherine have that she, and not her father, is the author? Her older sister, home to attend the funeral, doubts her claim and, in fact, doubts Catherine's own sanity. Hal, who has professional ambitions of his own, isn't exactly disinterested and may not be trustworthy; his sleeping with Catherine has also complicated the issue. The elusiveness of genius in general and the difficulty of a mathematical proof in particular here become metaphors for the uncertainties of love, trust, and personal integrity. This wonderful play has already won the Kesselring Prize for Auburn, also a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Proof's deft dialog, its careful structure, and the humanity of the central characters are themselves proof of a major new talent in the American theater. Strongly recommended for all drama collections. Robert W. Melton, Univ. of Kansas Libs., Lawrence Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Adult/High School-Twenty-five-year-old Catherine, who sacrificed college to care for her mentally ill father (once a brilliant, much-admired mathematician), is left in a kind of limbo after his death. Socially awkward and a bit of a shut-in, she is gruff with Hal, a former student who shows up even before the funeral wanting to root through the countless notebooks her father kept in the years of his decline, hoping to find mathematical gold. On the heels of his arrival comes Claire, Catherine's cosmopolitan, blandly successful, and pushy sister, with plans to sell their father's house and take Catherine (whom she's convinced has inherited a touch of their father's illness) with her back to New York. Catherine does not want to leave, and things become more complicated as she and Hal tentatively begin to develop a relationship. She gives him the key to a drawer in her father's desk, where the "gold" waits-in the form of a notebook filled with the most original and astonishing mathematical proof Hal has seen in years. Thrilled, he wants to take immediate steps to have the proof published in her father's name, until Catherine shocks both him and Claire by declaring that she is its author. Hal's harsh incredulity pushes Catherine into an indifferent funk, sorely disappointed by the insult of having to prove her honesty to a friend she had trusted. There is much to appeal to YAs in this Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play, which crackles with subtle wit while tackling large questions.-Emily Lloyd, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Proof . . . a play about scientists whose science matter less than their humanity . . . All four [characters]—whether loving, hating, encouraging or impeding one another—are intensely alive, complex, funny human.” —John Simon, New York
“An exhilarating and assured new play . . . accessible and compelling as a detective story.” —Bruce Weber, The New York Times
“Auburn has taken on some biggies here; what the link may be between genius and mental instability, why it is that lives get stuck, and how elusive the truth can be . . . [Proof's] level of accomplishment and the realness of its characters show that Auburn has both depth and a voice.” —The New Yorker
L.A. Theatre Works brings this Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning production to life in a moody, sparkling audio theater version. A sterling cast interprets this brainy drama with passion and commitment. While the story is strong in itself, the players, in this crisp, natural-sounding recording, commit to each moment. It’s hard not to empathize with the mildly demented daughter of a mildly demented mathematician genius father as she encounters family strife, the possibility of love, and her own genius in the period following her father’s death. The emotional stakes are high and are played to the hilt. The proof is in the listening. D.J.B. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
