Review: Strawberry Theatre Workshop's PROOF Need Not Prove Its Integrity

Behold, a rare gem, a piece of art that combines two vastly different disciplines: theater, and math. Ironically, what makes David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize winning play, "Proof" so entertaining isn't so much the math, but the chemistry between the characters. Get out your pens and pencils, students, because Strawberry Theatre Workshop's harmonious performances are noteworthy.

Directed by Greg Carter, Auburn's play concerns Catherine (Anastasia Higham), whose mathematical genius father, Robert (Charles Leggett), has recently passed away. And she's not taking it well. Catherine had relinquished her college education to live with her father to take care of him as his mental health slowly declined. On the eve of her 25th birthday, she admits to her father her concerns about inheriting his mental instability, and he replies by revealing to her that he's already dead.

Catherine is a functioning, lucid young woman. She is grounded and cynical. Her polar opposite and older sister, Claire (Allison Standley), has flown in from New York City, where she immediately tries her best to cheer up and fix Catherine. She encourages Catherine to move in with her and seek therapy in New York. Robert had been a professor of mathematics at the University of Chicago; upon his death, his ex-student Hal (Kevin Kelly) takes on the task of prolonging his beloved professor's legacy and digs through Robert's collection of incoherent scribblings, hoping to discover the next great mathematical breakthrough. When he does, Catherine claims authorship, but unfortunately for her, there's no proof that she wrote the proof.

Robert, Hal, Catherine, and Claire all have dynamic, complicated, and earnest relationships with each other. Hal's motives for pursuing Catherine romantically are understandably questioned, considering his fervent enthusiasm for Robert's work. Claire wants Catherine to like and trust her, despite Catherine's dormant feelings of betrayal. The layers of Robert and Catherine's complicated, interdependent relationship are peeled away in flashbacks, each more illogical and emotionally-driven than the last. This show is chock full of little twists and heavy hearts. There is a decent amount of comedy, but it comes with a large dose of drama and tribulation.

Artistic Director Greg Carter created a physical world with an emphasis on simplicity. All of the action takes place in Catherine's back yard, clad with a brittle porch and porch swing. It feels sad but familiar in a "it's-not-much-but-it's-home" kind of way. Every now and then there will be a prop thrown into the mix, perhaps some brittle, brown leaves on the ground, but this perfectly humble environment lets the focus be on the people. It's simple and believable.

The screen projections didn't work. Between scenes, the wall of Catherine's house would be flooded by a stock video that, I think, was meant to give a moment additional depth. First of all, these performers do not need any help creating depth. Second of all, the quasi-symbolic images felt gimmicky. For example, moments after Hal and Catherine kiss, a giant flower blooms. Before a flashback, an icicle melts in reverse. Whenever the proof is discussed, we see long, complicated mathematical equations full of sigmas and x's. Quite frankly, these equations may not be that complicated, they just have enough symbols in them to appear complicated to the average person.

I took a similar issue with Strawberry Theatre Workshop's production of "Rhinoceros". Yes, in "Proof", they left slightly more to the imagination, they felt less poetic and more superfluous. Why jostle the flow with screen savers between scenes?

This is a Pulitzer Prize winning show; the writing is breathtaking. The dialogue between characters is at once figurative and painfully realistic. This outstanding cast made the latter push through. As Catherine, Anastasia Higham was cynical, sharp, and vulnerable. Allison Standley's Claire is well-intentioned, very put together, and bossy (and the funniest character, because she's the only one among this group of geniuses that makes any real sense). Kevin Kelly made a perfect Hal: physically strapping with just the right nerdy touches (big head of curly hair, lisp, and every facial expression a different iteration of 'dumbstruck'). As Robert, Charles Leggett is charmingly craggy. The character never quite pushed through to a point where Robert felt like he had superior intellect, but he had good chemistry with his daughters and Hal, and was a believably "bughouse" (as he puts it).

The show's ending is a tad facile and abrupt, but the wordplay and performances are stellar. Weighed against questionable visual choices, I give Strawberry Theatre Workshop's "Proof" a supportive 4/5. The chemistry is much more entertaining than the math.

"Proof" performs at 12th Avenue Arts through February 18, 2017. For tickets and information, visit them online at www.strawshop.org.

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