Showered with accolades when first produced, David Auburn's "Proof" won the 2001 Pulitzer for drama and the Tony Award for best play. It was adapted into a 2005 film starring Gwyneth Paltrow, broke records on Broadway and has been widely produced worldwide ever since.
"Proof" has also engendered considerable debate about whether all the hype was warranted. In her modestly scaled and thoughtful staging at the Macha Theatre -- an extended run of a production that initially played the Odyssey Theatre -- director Elina de Santos offers the opportunity for quiet reevaluation. Although it contains soap-operatic elements, as well as contrived plot twists more appropriate to an action film than a psychological drama, Auburn's ultimately uplifting play revolves around a very human core.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, July 18, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 24 words Type of Material: Correction
'Proof' actor: A theater review in the June 27 Calendar section of "Proof" at the Macha Theatre misspelled actor Micah Freedman's surname as Feedman.
Adam Blumenthal's poignantly dilapidated set bespeaks the mental turmoil of its inhabitants. It's here that Robert (Greg Mullavey), a famous mathematician gone mad, lives with his youngest daughter and full-time caretaker, Catherine (Abigail Rose Solomon), also a mathematician. Despite his deceptively corporeal presence, Robert is actually dead, a "surprise" we learn early on.
Catherine's fears for her sanity are exacerbated by her domineering "normal" sister, Claire (Ariana Johns), who swoops in to control her troubled sister's life. A romance with Hal (Micah Feedman), the mathematician who has been devotedly parsing Robert's mad scribblings, offers Catherine new hope and direction. But Catherine has a shocker up her sleeve that ends the first act with an O. Henry bang.
Perhaps mindful of her material's tendency to overstatement, De Santos has reined in her performers to a fitting emotional spareness, a bracing naturalism embraced by her able cast. Most notable is Mullavey, who captures the tragic glint of self-awareness under Robert's manic optimism. Robert's sudden, crushing realization of his incapacity is the evening's most exquisitely realized moment.
-- F. Kathleen Foley
"Proof," Macha Theatre, 1107 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood. 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends July 13. $25. (800) 595-4849. Running time: 2 hours.
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Feeling old with 'My Old Friends'
If Geritol broke into song, it would be "My Old Friends," the gentle musical comedy now playing at the Victory Theatre Center. The cranky residents at the Golden Days Retirement Hotel talk about sex (ancient history), letters from the kids (occasional) and suppositories (frequent).
