dramaMarch 8-11 and 15-18
Fathers and daughters. Madness and genius. A study of relationships and legacies.
shakesperience productionsFri, Mar 23
Original production set inside of a camera and inspired by contemporary art and philosophy.
March 8-11, 15-18
Thu-Sat 8pm, Sun 3pm
Directed by Suzanne Bryan
Originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club on 23 May 2000, Proof went to Broadway in 2000 where it was directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, with Mary-Louise Parker as Catherine, Larry Bryggman as Robert, Ben Shenkman as Hal, and Johanna Day as Claire. The entire original Broadway cast received Tony nominations for their performances, with Parker winning. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anne Heche, Josh Hamilton and Neil Patrick Harris took up the mantle of various roles later during the run of the production.
Set in Chicago, Proof is an arresting play and one of the most significant dramas of our times. Dealing with salient issues concerning fathers and daughters, genius and insanity, legacy and truth, it has won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. The main character is Catherine, a depressed college-drop-out who has stayed at home to care for her ailing father during the final years of his life. Robert was a brilliant mathematician, but had also suffered from mental illness prior to his death. Although forced to give up her formal education and what surely would have been her most productive years in order to care for Robert, Catherine seems to have inherited her father's talent for numbers. Or has she?
While preparations are being made for the funeral Claire, Catherine's sister, returns home from New York; and Catherine becomes friends with Hal, one of her father's former students, who has discovered a proof of a mathematical theorem in one of Robert's notebooks -- a theorem that all mathematicians had thought impossible to prove. Although the handwriting looks like Robert's, Catherine herself claims responsibility for the proof. The mystery that ensues from that assertion gives rise to an exploration of the link between madness and genius and questions the inheritability of each trait. Parallel themes that occur in Proof concern the development of human relationships, and Auburn posits whether trust and love might not be just as difficult to establish between individuals as it is to develop a mathematical proof.
About the Author: David Auburn is an American playwright born in Chicago (1970), and raised in Ohio and Arkansas. He attended the University of Chicago, where he was a member of Off-Off Campus, and received a degree in English literature. Following a fellowship with Amblin Entertainment, he moved to New York City and spent two years in The Juilliard School's playwriting program, studying under the noted dramatists Marsha Norman and Christopher Durang. His first full-length play, Skyscraper, ran Off Broadway in 1997. His short play, What Do You Believe About The Future? appeared in Harper's Magazine and has since been adapted for the screen. He is best known for his 2000 play Proof, which won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play, as well as the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He has adapted it into a film, which was released in 2005.
He has also been awarded the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Following Proof, he wrote the screenplay for the movie The Lake House, released by Warner Bros. in 2006. In 2007, he made his directorial debut with The Girl in the Park, for which he also wrote the screenplay.
He currently resides in Manhattan, New York.
About the Director: Suzanne Bryan began her directorial debut at the Firehouse with GB Shaw’s Saint Joan for Darkhorse Productions. She then went on to found Persephone Theatre and directed Amadeus, Arcadia, Master Harold and the boys, Wit and Fully Committed. Bryan also directed Our Town for the Firehouse. Her greatest joys were at Newburyport High School where she taught and directed fourteen productions including Noises Off, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest, On the Razzle, The Laramie Project, and the first Shakespearean productions at NHS -- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night. In 1999, Suzanne’s students put on Bang Bang You're Dead to raise awareness of school violence and its causes including the effects of bullying. Most recently, Suzanne volunteered as an after-school theater teacher at Dorchester Academy. Her students were selected to perform at the 2010 Martin Luther King city-wide celebration at John Hancock Hall in Boston. As a performer, Suzanne has appeared on stage, in independent films, educational videos, voiceovers etc. Last summer she directed the very popular Forbidden Newburyport here at the Firehouse.
Proof stars:
Paul Wann (Newbury) – Robert
Mara Flynn (S. Berwick, ME) - Claire
Elizabeth Pasarilla (Beverly) – Catherine
Jason Novak (Newburyport) – Hal
Set Design: David Stawasz
Poster Design: Tim Hiltabiddle/Milestone Marketing
This event is produced by the Firehouse by special arrangement with the Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
OPENING NIGHT SPECIAL!
Thu, March 8 all seats $13
$22 Adults • $20 Students/Seniors • $19 Members
Group prices (12 or more): March 9-11 only: $18 ea
(Must be purchased in one transaction-no multiple buyers).
