The ‘Proof’ is in the plot as production graces Kent Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center stage

  • by Jennifer Kneuss
  • February 21, 2012
  • 344
                        
Summary: An intriguing mix of mathematics and mystery, performed by four talented actors, came to the Kent Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center as Walnut Street Theatre presented the award winning play, ‘Proof’. Anyone who appreciates exemplary, professional dramatic theater who was not at the Tues. Feb. 21 production of Proof at the Kent State Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center certainly missed out on a wonderful opportunity. Proof, the 2000 play by David Auburn, has become a classic in its own right in the past decade, winning a Pulitzer Award for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play in 2001, along with other awards. Proof came to the Performing Arts Center by way of the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, which is the oldest theater in existence in America. Its plot combines mathematics and mystery in an intriguing story that, at its heart, is about the age-old theme of the struggles within a family. Not a single word is wasted by the playwright in the sometimes gritty, tightly written script. There are just four characters, whose parts are performed by four exceptional actors. Alex Keiper plays protagonist Catherine with an intensity of emotion that left the audience holding its breath on more than one occasion. As she interacts with her genius mathematician father, Robert, played by theater veteran Bill Van Horn, the dialogue is completely believable and compelling. Older sister Claire is played by Krista Apple, who quickly became the character the audience loved to hate. Uptight Claire considers herself the responsible one, the person who worked doggedly to assure the family’s survival while removing herself geographically from her father’s increasingly disruptive battle with mental illness, leaving Catherine behind to deal with the day to day struggle of being Robert’s caregiver. The tension between the sisters is palpable throughout the play, other than when Catherine ultimately and resignedly submits to Claire’s manipulations. David Raphaely is charming as Hal, Robert’s admiring former mathematics student who finds himself drawn to Catherine romantically on the eve of Robert’s funeral. Although the role is not inherently comical, Raphaely manages to inject subtle doses of physical humor throughout the show that give a welcome, and much needed, comical relief for the audience at crucial moments. Exceptional background sound effects made full use of the PAC’s state of the art sound system, and added a gentle reality to the play, which is performed entirely with one set; a non-descript front porch in Chicago. The play, however, transcends setting and place, and could be envisioned on any family front porch in America. Following the show, which received resounding applause, the four actors participated in an intimate ‘Talk Back’ session with members of the audience, seating themselves front and center to discuss the play. “The biggest challenge I face each night is to allow myself to be completely open and completely vulnerable at all times to Catherine’s rollercoaster of emotions,” admitted Keiper, who noted that the troupe actually had a therapist meet with them initially to explore the role mental illness plays in the script. “The whole idea of playing madness is very liberating,” added Van Horn. “But it’s also about family drama. It’s the old theme of ‘we love each other so much that we can’t get along’.” Van Horn also pointed out that the play also takes a different look at what is considered ‘normal’ in human behavior. “The term ‘normal’ is to be used loosely. There are a lot of colors in the crayon box. We really don’t know that much about what normal is.”


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