David Auburn’s critically-acclaimed drama Proof was presented by Pepperdine’s Lindhurst Theater this week. One of the most popularly-produced plays of the decade won a Pulitzer Prize and Tony award for its examination of human relationships.
Main characters Catherine and her father Robert played by Jamye Grant and Michael O’Neill respectively try desperately to organize their world through the logic and order of numbers. The brilliant mathematicians are rendered increasingly frustrated as the irrationality of human emotion cannot be proven by logic.
As the mathematical maniac Robert suffers from mental illness in his old age the emotional turbulence of his care-taker and daughter Catherine increases. Pepperdine junior Grant delivered a fantastic performance as she embodied the weight of her character with an air of elegance. As the play switches between time-frames in Catherine’s life Grant transitioned between the shifts in emotions with seamless grace.
In working with O’Neill Jamye professed there was “a trust which was developed that shined through in the chemistry of their performance.
Celebrated actor Michael O’Neill summoned the decline of Robert’s machinery” or cognitive cogs with an energetically genuine delivery. In the brief moments his character was on stage O’Neill captured the audience with his quirky child-like mannerisms which appropriately reflected the erosion of Robert’s cluttered mind. Scenic designer Darren Diggle used the set as an abstract reflection of the decay and confusion of the senior mathematician’s mentally-ill state.
Rounding out the cast were senior Bethanie Russell junior Zachary Taylor and O’Neill’s understudy Kevin Shipp. Russel played Claire Catherine’s insensitive and disconnected older sister. Russel’s character provided a strong opposing force to the emotional vigor of her younger sister echoing the thematic contrast of stark mathematics with human irrationality.
Taylor’s endearingly nerdy portrayal of suave math student Hal injects brightness into each scene he appeared in his character lightening the load of Catherine’s lofty fears.
The extensive resume of veteran actor Michael O’Neill did not detract an iota from his humble disposition. Bemused he revealed to the audience in a post-play talkback: “They brought me in as the old salt you know to kind of rub something off. But it’s been quite the opposite…it’s been me who has learned from them.”
The chemistry between the actors of Pepperdine’s production is what draws audience-members in. The edgy production magnifies the elusive nature of life prohibiting the idea of proving the sway of emotion through an equation.
Check out the remaining matinee performance of Proof tomorrow at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at Lindhurst Theater.