In Community Little Theatre drama, family ties are put to the test.
AUBURN – I’m pretty sure that two plus two is four.
But I’m positive that “Proof” is a totally engrossing and completely satisfying stage presentation at Community Little Theatre. There are four more opportunities to catch this show, tonight through Sunday afternoon.
Even though “Proof” is a play about mathematicians, you don’t need to understand any more math than I do to enjoy this show. The characters are real and their relationships matter. Moreover, four exceptionally talented actors bring this play to life.
Set on the back porch of a somewhat run-down house, “Proof” probes the relationships of 25-year-old Catherine and her father, Robert, a brilliant but mentally unstable mathematician at the University of Chicago. On Robert’s death, Catherine’s sister Claire, who feels she knows how to handle everything, arrives from New York. At the same time, Hal, a former student and worshipful disciple of Robert’s, is becoming romantically interested in Catherine.
Through several effective flashbacks, the audience learns about Catherine’s sacrifice of her own development and education to take sole responsibility for her father’s care.
Ellen Peters, in the role of Catherine, combines intensity and vulnerability in her portrayal. With a character who’s basically quiet and reserved, Peters lets Catherine’s flash point of underlying strength explode at all the right times. Peters convinces us that Catherine – despite her fear that she could inherit her father’s mental illness – is determined to assert her own worth.
As Hal, John Blanchette delivers the right balance of doubt in his desire to believe Catherine’s claim that it was she who wrote a complicated and important mathematical proof found among notebooks similar to her father’s.
Blanchette is well known for roles in many Community Little Theatre productions over 23 years. Many have been in musicals, but he is also very effective in dramatic roles such as this one.
Elizabeth Rollins, a music and theater teacher in Auburn, gives the role of Claire just enough contrast between her self-centered success in Manhattan and her genuine concern for her sister.
Mark Hazard, who plays Robert, is a welcome addition to the roster of this little theater’s players. Hazard gives the character of Robert all the human qualities that make us realize there’s a fine line between mental wellness and illness.
Relatively new to Maine, Hazard has a solid theatrical background. Now a teacher in Portland, he has taught about authors ranging from Homer to Shakespeare at colleges including Colby and Bates.
In her third directorial effort for Community Little Theatre, Linda Britt puts an impressive mark on “Proof.”
She said she recognized her challenge in directing “Proof” was to explore loyalty and trust in family relationships.
“Must we prove – even to the people who ought to know us best – who we are and what we can do?” she asked. “What if there is no proof? What if we put ourselves out there and no one – not even the one person we trusted most – believes us?”
Britt expertly guides her four actors through these universal questions. There’s also a good deal of wry humor in “Proof,” such as Hal’s revelations about how math geeks can be real party animals.
The large back porch provided by set designer Bill Hamilton, assisted by Stan Spilecki, serves this production well. Richard Martin’s light design is also important for the various night and day scenes.
David Auburn’s “Proof” opened on Broadway in October 2000. When it closed some 918 performances and 28 previews later on Jan. 5, 2003, it was the longest running nonmusical Broadway play of the last 20 years.
While Community Little Theatre’s musicals draw consistently large audiences, “Proof” is one of its fine dramatic productions that deserves sell-out support.
“Proof” contains adult language, but the language is used in context and not for shock. I had seen another production of “Proof” several months ago, but I had forgotten the profanity because the story unfolds so believably.
Remaining performances of “Proof” at the Great Falls Performing Arts Center, Academy Street, Auburn, are at 8 p.m. today through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are available by calling the box office at 783-0958 or going to the theater’s Web site at www.laCLT.com. Tickets are $15 for adults and $13 for senior citizens and full-time students.
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