Reviews
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Cast excels in Concordia University's 'Proof' Chemistry among those on stage proves critical in mathematics-themed drama
Friday, February 24, 2006
BY ROGER LELIEVRE
News Arts Writer
"Proof,'' the drama which opened Thursday night at the Kreft Center's Blackbox Theatre, may have mathematics at its heart, but there's considerable chemistry going on among the characters as well.
The four-person show - with strong performances from each cast member - is as much about human relationships as it is about relationships among numbers. Trust is a key issue here, as are matters of the heart.
"Proof,'' which won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award in 2001 and was recently adapted into a Hollywood movie, explores the relationship between Catherine (Christina MacKenzie) and her recently deceased father, Robert (Robert W. Bethune), a genius mathematician descended into madness in his later years.
But it's also about Catherine's touchy relationship with her overbearing sister Claire (Adrienne Beyersdorf) and math nerd Hal (Dennis W. Matyas), one of Catherine's father's former students, who is sorting through Robert's notebooks in hopes of finding something beyond gibberish.
He does, and that gives rise not only to questions of authorship but concerns over whether Hal's romantic interest in Catherine is genuine, or just a smart career move.
Meanwhile Catherine, drifting aimlessly after her father's death, is terrified she will experience the same mental decay as her dad, a concern shared by her sister who shows up to sell the family home and whisk Catherine away to a new life - and possibly some serious psychiatric care - in New York. One of the show's most touching scenes, told in flashback, takes place between Catherine and her father during one of his a rare windows of lucidity, a few moments of normalcy that make his decline sadder still.
Bethune is remarkable in his role, reminding us of how thin a line can sometimes be between sanity and insanity. His sincerity as the doting father is touching, making his passionate ravings later on as he struggles to prove to Catherine that he's regained his mental faculties even more tragic.
MacKenzie, however, is more than up to the task of playing opposite, often achingly vulnerable and at other times amazingly distraught. Her performance is so delicately nuanced that from moment to moment it can be hard to tell if she really is OK. There are also some good moments between Beyersdorf and MacKenzie who, as sisters, are about as opposite as can be. Matyas makes a cute Hal, not quite the stereotypical math nerd, but geeky in the nicest possible way, appropriately awkward and possessed with a knack for really bad timing.
Besides crediting Laura C. Bird for directing a taut show, mention should be made of her work as set designer. All of the action takes place outside a surprisingly detailed Chicago brownstone with wicker furniture on the patio and real leaves on the ground. It's a nice touch.
Meanwhile, at its heart "Proof'' proves is that human relationships are too complicated to be neatly solved by a mathematical formula.
"Proof'' continues at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Kreft Center, 4090 Geddes Road. Call 734-995-4612, or visit www.cuaa.edu/cuarts.
February 24, 2006, The Ann Arbor News. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
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