City Week
by Lissette Ledesma, Austin Counts, Leila Abu-Saada, and Hank Stephenson
Jonathan Northover and Jill Baker in Proof.
No Equation for Love
Proof
7:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday; 1:30 p.m., Sunday, April 11-26Preview: 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 10
Beowulf Alley Theatre Company11 S. Sixth Ave.
882-0555;http://www.beowulfalley.org/
Proof is not really a play about numbers; it actually focuses on romantic and family relationships—and what can happen when they go terribly wrong.
"Math is only used to show the relationship between the character Catherine, and her father, and (a former student of her father's named) Hal," says director Sheldon Metz.
Jonathan Northover and Jill Baker in Proof.
The story centers around Catherine, who has spent many years caring for her brilliant yet mentally ill mathematician father, Robert. The death of her father brings Catherine to a relationship with Hal, whose love for math drives Catherine to resent the time she spent caring for her father—even though she misses him.
As the play delves deeper, the audience will find that Catherine has gained some of her father's knowledge—and possibly his volatility.
"I like plays with emotion, where the audience can laugh and cry with the character," says Metz, who first saw the David Auburn production in 2002 and has since wanted to bringing the Pulitzer Prize-winning play to a local stage. "I love when a play makes an audience feel. When you can do that, a play has done its job."
Metz, who has been directing theater for 48 years, says his goal is for the audience to walk out of the play discussing Catherine's uncertain future.
Tickets to Proof are $20 (with a $2 discount for online purchases); admission to the Friday, April 10, preview is $10. For more information or tickets, visit beowulfalley.org. —L.A.
