SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Winner of both the Pulitzer for Drama as well as the Tony for Best Play in 2001, Proof focuses on Catherine, the daughter of Robert, a recently deceased mathematical genius in his fifties and professor at the University of Chicago, and her struggle with mathematical genius and mental illness. Catherine had cared for her father through a lengthy mental illness.

Upon Robert’s death, his ex-graduate student Hal discovers a paradigm-shifting proof about prime numbers in Robert’s office. The title refers both to that proof and to the play’s central question: Can Catherine prove the proof’s authorship? Along with demonstrating the proof’s authenticity, Catherine also finds herself developing a relationship with Hal.

Throughout the play, it explores Catherine’s fear of following in her father’s footsteps, both mathematically and mentally, and her desperate attempts to stay in control.

CHARACTERS:
• Catherine (playing age: 25) – A young woman who inherited much of her father’s mathematical genius and, she fears, his “instability” as well; she gave up her life and schooling to take care of her father until his recent death.
• Claire (playing age: late 20s early 30s)– Catherine’s older sister, a practical and business-minded woman who has been comfortably successful in her work and relationships. She left Robert and Catherine behind, distancing herself from the run-down family home of her youth. She left the family to make a new life for herself in New York City.
• Robert (playing age mid/late 50s)– A recently deceased mathematician praised for his groundbreaking work in his youth, but whose later years were plagued by delusional mental illness; he is seen in Catherine’s imagination and in flashbacks.
• Harold (Hal) Dobbs (playing age early 30s) – Now a professor, one of Robert’s last Ph.D. students, during the one year his idol and mentor’s illness went into remission, at least enabling Robert to teach, if not continue his own creative mathematical work.

Auditions will be held on July 30, at 6:00 p.m. at 2307 James Avenue, South Lake Tahoe (South Tahoe Association of Realtors Office).

Proof is written by David Auburn and will be directed by David Hamilton.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play, PROOF is a deeply moving and brilliantly written story about genius, family, mental health, and trust.

Performance Dates:

October 16–19, 23–25 at 7:30pm

October 26 at 2:00pm

at the Valhalla Boathouse Theatre