Proof (play)
| Proof | |
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| Written by | David Auburn |
| Characters | Catherine Robert Hal Claire |
| Date premiered | May 23, 2000 |
| Place premiered |
Manhattan Theatre Club New York City, New York |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois |
Proof is a 2000 play by the American playwright David Auburn. The play premiered Off-Broadway in May 2000, and transferred to Broadway in October 2000. The play won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play.
The play concerns Catherine, the daughter of Robert, a recently deceased mathematical genius in his fifties and professor at the University of Chicago, and her struggle with mathematical genius and mental illness. Catherine had cared for her father through a lengthy mental illness. Upon Robert's death, his ex-graduate student Hal discovers a paradigm-shifting proof about prime numbers in Robert's office. The title refers both to that proof and to the play's central question: Can Catherine prove the proof's authorship? Along with demonstrating the proof's authenticity, the daughter also finds herself in a relationship with 28-year-old Hal. Throughout, the play explores Catherine's fear of following in her father's footsteps, both mathematically and mentally and her desperate attempts to stay in control.
The play opens with Catherine sitting alone in the backyard of her large, old house. Robert, her father, approaches her with a bottle of champagne to celebrate her 25th birthday. Catherine complains that she hasn't done any worthwhile work in the field of mathematics, at least not to the same level as her father, a well-known math genius. He reassures her that she can still do good work as long as she stops lying in bed till all hours and wasting time reading magazines. Catherine confesses she's worried about inheriting Robert's inclination towards mental instability. He begins to comfort her but then alludes to a "bad sign" when he points out that he is, in fact, dead. He died a week ago. Robert disappears as Catherine dozes off. She awakens when Hal, one of Robert's students, exits the house. He's been studying the hundreds of notebooks Robert left behind after his death, looking for any work that could be published. Catherine assures him that the notebooks are filled with scribbles and nonsense since her father wrote them when he was at his most delusional. Hal, attempting to flirt, invites her to go see his band later that night. Catherine becomes suspicious of him and demands to see what's in his backpack. She roots through it to find nothing but becomes infuriated when a notebook falls out of Hal's jacket. She dials the police while accusing him of trying to steal her father's work and pass it off as his own. He admits that he was sneaking it away but only to give it back to her later as a birthday present. He opens to a page that Robert wrote during a time when he was lucid. In it, Robert writes it's a "good day" and thanks to Catherine for taking care of him and expresses hope for the future. Hal leaves Catherine with the notebook. She begins to cry until she hears police sirens.
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