Calling to mind the story of John Nash, the real life character portrayed in Ron Howard’s 20002 film, A Beautiful Mind, Proof follows Catherine, the daughter of a mathematical genius, Robert, whose final years were marked by psychiatric illness and gradual insanity.
The play opens with the slightly unstable twenty five year old sitting on the veranda of their home debating her own sanity with her father. Catherine is plagued with self-doubt and neuroses. While her older sister Claire was able to live in New York and carve out a worthwhile career, Catherine dropped out of school and spent many of her formative years caring for Robert. When Robert dies, Catherine allows the father’s former PhD student Hal to read his papers in the hope of finding a useful mathematical discovery. When Hal finds notes that prove one of the most important theories of all time, the ownership of the book is thrown into question and Catherine finds herself torn between her bossy older sister and Hal, who both claim to have her best interests in mind.
On entering the theatre, the first thing we notice is the fabulous set designed by Graham Maclean. For those lucky enough to be nearer the front, it really feels as if we are in the backyard of a suburban Chicago home. Less impressive is the lighting designed by Trudy Dalgleish. The complete blackouts serve well to differentiate between changes in time, but at other times, it’s unclear whether it’s day or night in a particular scene. This may well be only a minor quibble when one considers that the tight script for Proof means the audience are never in any real doubt as to where we are at a place in time.
The play contains several flashbacks, which Bates and her team execute with cinematic fluidity. Dramatic irony is also used with superb effect. Michael Ross’s Robert appears wooden at the beginning, in a way that might be sympathetic to his condition. However, he is at his best in a later scene, when the relationship between Catherine (Matilda Ridgway) and Robert seems more believable and his vulnerability shines through. The sisterly conversations and tensions between Catherine and Claire (Catherine McGraffin) are realistic and humorous from the outset, while there could scarcely have been a viewer who didn’t wish for the fledgling affair between Catherine and Hal (Adriano Cappalletta) to work out. Throughout these very different forms of encounter, it is Ridgway’s performance that shines through.
A story about a mathematical proof which is described as a character study may not appeal to everyone on first read of the program. But Proof is a rewarding, heart-warming play which is a fantastically well executed start to the 2014 season.
Rating: 4 ½ stars out of 5
Proof
By David Auburn
Directed by Sandra Bates
Set Design: Graham Maclean
Lighting: Trudy Dalgleish
With: Adriano Cappelletta, Catherine McGraffin, Matilda Ridgway, Michael Ross.
Ensemble Theatre
Kirribilli, Sydney
From 31 January
