P RO Of 

by David Auburn at

The Flight Theatre at The Complex

This gripping Tony and Pulitzer award winner by David Auburn juggles the lives of four people with uncanny insight and uncomfortable realism.  Opening with a touch of Hamlet, as the ghost of Robert appears to his daughter on her birthday, hours after his death, the story cleverly goes back and forth in time, revealing glimpses of the past, interlaced with the present.    Robert has been dead for one day, and Catherine is not sure whether to be relieved or to mourn his passing.

He had been mentally ill for years, needing constant care and attention, and even though he was an acknowledged genius in mathematics, the last years of his life had been a barren wasteland of scribbles and doodles on his “working” notebooks.     His other daughter Claire, returns from  New York  with a decidedly unflinching agenda.  After the funeral, she’ll sell the house and take her sister to   New York  and if Catherine does carry the same illness gene as the father, she can care for her more easily.

Veronique Ory    -    Craig Braun

It’s evident that these two have some serious unresolved issues that go beyond the sibling rivalry, and their resolution is elegant as director Charlotte Gulezian charts a narrow but clear path that makes Proof one of the most intelligently acted offerings of the season.  Besides the issue of dealing with the father’s death, mathematics play a major role, as young Hal, a former student and now a teacher, volunteers to go through the hundreds of notebooks left by Robert to see if there is any mathematical gold to be gleaned from them.
Elena Fabri - John Bobek	As one might expect, a relationship develops between Catherine and Hal, deep enough for her to entrust him with a notebook of special mathematical work.  When he examines the contents he is flabbergasted.    Meticulously laid out, Hal finds the proof for a problem that has plagued the world of math for years.  It seems that the professor may not have been as ill as others thought and that he actually worked all the years when he was supposed to be sick.    That’s when Catherine reveals the work is hers.
If anything can bring people together, it’s trust – but the lack of it can rip them apart, as happens when Claire immediately challenges her sister, being skeptical that Catherine could have the intellect to understand the concept laid out in the book  She demands proof, and Hal becomes entangled in the dispute agreeing to have the notebook examined by his colleagues. Whether the work is Catherine’s or Robert’s become a moot point as the fissure between the sister deepens and the romance between Catherine and Hal sputters.  Faith, belief and trust become far more important in resolving their conflict, and eventually common sense and a strong will triumph over manipulation and control. Elena Fabri as Claire is excellent portraying the apparently benevolent sister who is determined to impose her will believing that she is right no matter what.  At times, you almost want to punch her out for being such a bitch, she’s that convincing.  Craig Braun looks every bit the college professor, a bit more lucid than he’s supposed to be, but convincingly dedicated to his work, if not his daughter.  John Bobek’s college teacher, Hal looks more like a teen-age geek trying to make time, but his dialogue and delivery quickly convince you he’s a serious student with serious ambitions, especially towards Catherine, a girl with a voluble temper – not much self assurance and a mind that knows no bounds when it comes to the mathematical abstracts.  Veronique Ory can change emotions on a dime, and here she delivers a performance that has you wondering if she’s the sweet daughter who loves her father enough to give up her education, a lazy opportunist lacking motivation or a genius suffering a touch of the same madness her father had.  Whatever you select, it's a performance rich with feeling and insight. This is a gem of a production, proof positive that Athena Theatre is more than fulfilling its mission of bringing quality theatre to a desert of mediocrity. Pick of the Week

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WHERE:
The Flight Theatre at The Complex
6472 Santa Monica Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90038

call (818) 754-1423


WHEN:
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays
at 8 PM; Sundays at 7 PM
July14th-July 31 2007



WHO:
Written by David Auburn
Directed by Charlotte Gulezian
Scenic Design by Danny Truxaw
Costume Design by Kaori Mita
Lighting Design by Michael Bergfeld


CAST:
Catherine–Veronique Ory
Robert– Craig Braun
Hal – John Bobek 
Claire – Elena Fabri