PROOF till 14 October

PROOF: David Auburn
Birmingham Stage Company at Birmingham Old Rep
Tkts: 0121 616 1519
Runs: 2h, one interval till 14 October
Review: Rod Dungate, 28 September 2006

Beautifully painful, exquisitely touching
Here is a drama of human relationships. In John Harrison’s beautifully understated production, four people work out their fragile loves, hates, anxieties, hopes and desires. The setting is unlikely – the house of a Maths professor in a Chicago University. But the emotions are real, real to us all, and we are gently encouraged into these characters’ drama.

Robert is a one-time professor of Maths with a world-wide reputation for his discoveries. Having suffered some kind of breakdown his daughter, Catherine, has given up her studies to look after him. But she, too, appears to be a maths genius – or does she suffer delusions too? Into the relationship steps Hal, younger mathematician, sorting through Robert’s notes to see if there’s anything worthwhile. A world-shattering proof is found in the notes – but who discovered it, Robert or Catherine?

The proof is about large prime-numbers, but don’t let that worry you! The stuff of the play is humanity.

Sally Oliver (Catherine) and Neal Foster (Hal) take us on their journey. Oliver creates a Catherine that combines an outgoing energy with a nervous edginess; an accomplished performance – we don’t want her to be living through a breakdown, but we can’t be certain she isn’t. Foster’s Hal is marvellous. Incredibly gentle, we experience his love for Catherine and weep at his simple inability always to express it. Yet he is far, far from mathematical geek – this is a man we all like. The scenes between them are beautifully touching – by turns, raw, painful, joyous.

Terence Booth’s Robert (Catherine’s father) brings a worldly good humour to the play, while Aislinn Sands is Catherine’s sister – reasonable, precise, from the world of commerce, how we dislike her but feel guilty for doing it.

Catherine: Sally Oliver
Robert: Terence Booth
Hal: Neal Foster
Claire: Aislinn Sands

Director: John Harrison
Designer: Norman Coates
Lighting: Jo Dawson
Technical Director: Damian Partington

2006-09-29 11:20:36