‘Proof’ makes math intriguing at South Coast Repertory

Tom Titus

There are two types of people in the world -- word people and

numbers people. As a firmly ensconced member of the former group,

I’ve always viewed those in the latter category as somewhat unusual,

to put it mildly. Weird or tilted might be a more accurate

description.

That the study of higher mathematics might make for intriguing

theater never crossed my mind before viewing “Proof,” David Auburn’s

2001 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner now on South Coast

Repertory’s Segerstrom Stage. It must be conceded that there’s

arresting drama to be found in the world of numbers nerds.

Auburn spins a compelling scenario -- that genius and madness

might be inherited, much like the ability to commit murder without

feelings of guilt in Maxwell Anderson’s “The Bad Seed.” And that if

one quality is attained, the other is destined to follow.

At SCR, director Michael Bloom has stitched the play’s intricate

characters together into a stunning, thought-provoking production

centering on the character of a once-brilliant mathematical theorist

whose genius peaked at the age of 25 and whose mind gradually

crumbled afterward, interrupted by brief spells of lucidity (“the

good year”) before his eventual death. These various stages are

depicted in frequent flashbacks that bring the play’s elements full

circle.

The focus here, however, is on the younger of his daughters,

Catherine, who has just turned the quarter-century mark herself and

fears she may be following her father’s path into madness. The reason

for her concern is thrust at the audience in the last line of the

first act fade-out.

Emily Bergl delivers a highly charged performance as Catherine,

who interrupted her own education to care for her prematurely senile

father.

The specter of madness that hangs over the father seems to be

creeping in on the daughter, and Bergl immerses herself beautifully

in this aspect of her character.

SCR veteran Richard Doyle brilliantly plays the elder genius at

various phases of his disintegration. During the “good year,” he’s

frisky and lucid, but in a later-life flashback, Doyle adopts the

physical degeneration to match his mental state, walking tentatively

yet clinging doggedly to the concept that his research still has

merit, in a richly layered performance.

Entering the daughter’s private world she still shares with her

late father are her older sister, Claire -- whose practicality

counterbalances Catherine’s intellectuality -- and Hal, a onetime

student of the father’s who’s seeking something of value in writings

the old man left behind.

Christina Haag lends a caring but condescending counterpoint as

the older sister bent on selling the family house and moving

Catherine, like it or not, to New York with her. James Waterston

skillfully plays the ex-student whose romantic interlude with the

vulnerable Catherine prompts the discovery on which Auburn’s play

turns, a breakthrough mathematical “proof” which may or may not have

been written by the late mathematician.

The backyard action plays out against an imposing two-story

backdrop of the old Chicago house, beautifully designed by Thomas

Buderwitz. York Kennedy’s lighting and Maggie Morgan’s costumes

further enhance the play’s fragile mood.

Auburn’s play will likely excite the “numbers people” in the

audience, but it’s carefully scripted to draw in those who relish the

well-chosen word. Like “Galileo,” which SCR also once produced,

“Proof” is a powerful intellectual drama.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His

reviews appear Thursdays and Saturdays.