Review: PROOF at The Wimberley Players

The Wimberley Players' production of David Auburn's PROOF was thoroughly enjoyable despite its pacing issues.

PROOF follows Catherine (Abigail Remaley) as she deals with the death of her famous mathematician father (David Giminiani). Along the way, she faces issues of authorship, mental health and relationships.

The show takes place on the back porch of Catherine's childhood home in Chicago, and Kayla Kroot's set design was stunning. This porch felt lived in with small cracks in the walls and the back corner of the porch that had a small collection of aged flower pots.

Remaley's Catherine was truly human. She was dealing with the loss of her father by keeping those around her at arm's length, making it that more impactful when she was hurt by the people who she let get close to her. The anger and fear in Remaley's performance made sense with the kind of person her Catherine was.

James Lindsley was the charming math nerd Hal. He was filled with the swagger that accompanies someone who thinks that they are the smartest in the room (even when the was not). Giminiani's performance as Robert would give Bob Saget a run for his money in the height of his "Full House" days.

The jewel of this show was Katie Henderson as Claire, Catherine's protective older sister. Henderson embodied what it means to be a sister-nurturing and protective while still having that level of annoyance that only sisters have for one another. The best moment of the entire show was when she is telling Hal off after a week of taking care of a depressed Catherine - the amount of pain and anger in Henderson's voice while still maintaining her cool was incredibly touching and reminded me of my older sisters.

The weak point of the show was the overly long scene transitions. The cast would build up a good pace in their scenes to only have it hit a dead stop. The frustrating part of this is that they could have been easily shortened with some simple blocking changes like having the characters take their props offstage.

Despite that small grievance, PROOF at The Wimberley Players was an enjoyable night at the theatre that I would recommend to any math lover out there.

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PROOF by David Auburn is running at The Wimberley Players April 12- May 5. Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 and Sunday Matinees are at 2:30.

Tickets are $22 with $18 tickets for students. You can buy tickets by calling the box office 512.847.0575 or online at www.wimberleyplayers.org. Tickets may also be bought at the door 30 minutes before curtain.

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