WHAT: “Proof,” a play staged by Community Little Theatre
WHEN: 8 p.m. Jan. 13, 14,19, 20 and 21; 2 p.m. Jan. 15 and 22
WHERE: Great Falls Performing Arts Center, Academy Street, Auburn
TICKET: $15 for adults, $13 for senior citizens and full-time students
CALL: 783-0958; or go online to laCLT.com. ‘Proof’
CLT’s calculated plan for entertainment
AUBURN – First of all, it’s not about math.
“Proof” is a play about layers of relationships, and it’s very much a human story. That’s how director Linda Britt describes the Jan. 13-22 Community Little Theatre production of David Auburn’s acclaimed drama.
“It’s about family. It’s about loyalty. It’s about trust,” she said.
Her cast has spent an enormous amount of time on character development, Britt said. The four actors in “Proof” have different and sometimes subtle motivations for their actions, and it’s this effort over and above learning the lines that charges their performances with power and believability, Britt said.
The field of mathematics can be an intensely creative but emotionally limited world. These tensions play out in “Proof” through the relationship of 25-year-old Catherine (played by Ellen Peters) and her father, Robert (played by Mark Hazard), who is a brilliant but mentally unstable mathematician. Hal (John Blanchette) is a former student of Catherine’s father, and Claire (Liz Rollins) is Catherine’s determinedly ordinary sister.
Catherine appears to have inherited some of her father’s talent for mathematics and perhaps – as Claire believes and Catherine fears – some of his mental instability.
The play begins just after Robert’s death from a heart attack. Catherine has sacrificed her own development and education to take sole responsibility for the care of her father through an incapacitating mental illness.
The action takes place in flashbacks to Catherine’s interactions with her father, as well as in scenes in the present with Claire and Hal, a worshipful disciple of Robert’s who is romantically interested in Catherine.
Britt points out that the underlying theme of “Proof” is how people often base their lives on how they prove who they are and what they have done. For Catherine, it’s her effort to validate her part in writing a mathematical proof that no one else believes she wrote. In the case of Claire, it’s about her motivation for wanting to sell her father’s house where Catherine still lives.
The set is a back porch of a house in Chicago. Paint is starting to peel, showing the neglect in the recent year’s of Robert’s illness.
Britt noted that she and Bill Hamilton, set designer, worked to get the set placed as near as possible to the front of the stage. She said she wanted to enhance the intimacy of the performances and to be sure the audience could see all the facial expressions. She also emphasized that Stan Spilecki’s work on set decor pays off in his use of faux paint techniques and the distressing of wood rather than using old material.
Mark Hazard will make his first appearance in a Community Little Theatre production. Britt said he showed up for auditions and she quickly chose him for the important role of Robert. A Latin teacher at Cheverus High School, Hazard recently moved to Auburn; he has performed in numerous other theatrical productions.
Auburn’s “Proof” opened on Broadway in October 2000. When it closed some 918 performances and 28 previews later Jan. 5, 2003, it was the longest running nonmusical Broadway play of the last 20 years. Auburn then collaborated with Rebecca Miller to produce a screenplay, and the movie version of the show was released to cinemas across the country in September of 2005.
Community Little Theatre often stages sell-out productions of musical shows, but the dramatic productions are sometimes a harder sell, Britt said, describing “Proof” as a show that will deliver a powerful evening of drama to CLT audiences.
“People go out from a musical show humming the tunes and feeling good. ‘Proof’ is a play where they’ll also leave feeling good, but for different reasons,” the director said.
The production crew for “Proof” consists of Jason Pelletier, assistant director; Liz Rollins, producer; Ellen Peters, costume design; Marissa Jalbert, stage manager, assisted by Adam Blais; Richard Martin, lighting; Anna Cyr, property mistress; Josie Baum, publicity; Bill Hamilton, set design; Stan Spilecki, set decor. The set construction crew comprises Joel Salberg, Tim Traynor, Phil Vampatella, John Blanchette, and Bob Spellman and family.
Though considered an event to be enjoyed by the whole family, Britt said this show does contain adult language.
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