The Gainesville Sun, April 26, 2002

Arline Greer, Sun Theater Critic

The old adage "Appearances can be deceiving" applies uncannily to "Proof," David Auburn 's Pulitzer Prize-winning play at the Hippodrome State Theatre. "Proof," which deals with truth in mathematics and in life, means to keep you guessing from start to finish.
 

It succeeds. It's a beautifully crafted play that's part psycho- drama and part family drama. It's funny, stimulating and emotionally satisfying. Best of all, its author has given it a killer last line to conclude its first act, one that leaves audiences gasping.
 

The line goes to Catherine, the lead character in "Proof." Ibi Janko, who plays Catherine, doesn't disappoint (not here; not elsewhere in the play.) Using just the right hesitation between her words and just the right wondering tone to reveal the unexpected, Janko stops the first act cold in its tracks. Janko is just one of a quartet of actors who bring to life some absorbing ideas. Catherine is the daughter of Robert, a famous mathematician, whose glory days are long gone. Over the passage of years, the mathematician has lost his mind, leaving Catherine to care for him in their old-Chicago home. Eb Thomas manages to paint a somewhat sketchy portrait of a visionary, a doting father, a self-absorbed genius and a tired old man who's lost his mental acuity. Thomas tends to rush his lines in the play's first act, as do the other actors. All move into a smooth rhythm in the second act.)
 

"Proof' moves forward and backward in time so that we see Catherine and Robert at various stages in their lives. Catherine's fantasies bring a dead Robert back to life, creating the emotional background for her own ongoing struggle. Has Catherine inherited her father's propensity for madness along with his mathematical genius? The question is put to the test by the two characters who round out the quartet on stage. Hal, a young graduate student (who has a crush on Catherine) comes to inspect Robert's old papers, hoping to find a nugget of gold in his random writings. Claire, Catherine's older sister, returns to Chicago determined to take Catherine to live with her in New York. Claire is one of those maddening people who truly believes she knows what's best for everyone.

Niall McGinty's Hal is an endearing geek, whose interest in Catherine comes over as completely genuine. He's funny, likeable and altogether human. .
Marguerite Stimpson makes Claire the prototype of the officious family busybody, the sister (aunt, mother-in-law) we'd all like to strangle.

The play's title has to do with a mathematical discovery in which all four protagonists are involved. Who wrote it? To whom does it belong? Director Mary Hausch is sensitive to the interplay of all the characters who wrestle with the problem. Following a choppy first act, she moves her characters smoothly into the area of self -discovery with one scene flowing easily into the next. The handsome set of the exterior of an old house was designed by J. Jeffrey Guice. Marilyn A. Wall designed the show's costumes. (Is she responsible f.or Stimpson's rigid hairstyle which looks like a bad wig?) The show's jazzy sound track is by Rocky Draud.
The word "elegant" is used by mathematicians to describe theories of uncommon distinction. It is also an appropriate word for this production of "Proof."

Proof is good equation at Hippodrome

Jack Petro, The Daily Sun

"The sum of the squares of the sides of a right triangle equals the square of the hypotenuse," said the Scarecrow when endowed with a brain by the Wizard of Oz. That's about as far as the average person gets into higher math; unless you are Robert, an elderly mathematical genius in "Proof:" now playing at the Hippodrome State Theater in Gainesville. 

Robert (Eb Thomas) as a professor at the University of Chicago, did some groundbreaking original work in his early 20s called a mathematical proof: only to burn out so quickly that by the time he was in his 40s he was incapacitated. 

His work degenerated to mere drivel and his younger daughter Catherine (Ibi Janko) had to curtail her college education to take care of him. Older daughter Claire (Marguerite Stimpson) inherited only a modicum of analytical brilliance and is now a successful financier in New York City. 

When the father passes away, a doctoral student Hal (Niall McGinty) asks to review the myriad of notebooks Robert filled in his last days in search of any clues of a breakthrough, Hal is the quintessential nerd whose hobby is playing in a band comprised of other mathematics nutcakes. The band's favorite tune is "i," which all mathematicians know is an imaginary number. 

Flashback scenes between Thomas and Janko are tenderly played, Catherine has inherited her father's gift with figures but fears that she also will have a flash of brilliance and then go into a tailspin of dementia. 

A real stage connection is made between the professor of diminishing capacity and his brilliant but tormented daughter. I particularly liked her being barefoot and the absence of makeup, both of which added to a disheveled look. Janko, if anything, underplays her part and I had some trouble hearing her during the touching conversations with her father. 

The two male actors played their parts well. Marguerite Stimpson, in the third time I have seen her at the Hipp, took firm grip on her supporting role as the upscale New York businesswoman. She gets great projection out of that 100 pound body and is a pleasure to behold. 

The fifth star of the production is not an actor at all. Congratulations are in order for set designer J. Jeffery Guice for the season's best set design in the Central Florida region. A brick courtyard was laid on stage strewn with autumn leaves. The house set on a 30/60-degree angle was a stroke of genius very appropriate for the small thrust stage at the Hipp. The detail in the railing, porch floor, windows, siding, and interiors was impeccable. 

Hal comes up emptyhanded in his search of the notebooks. Catherine, after a brief liaison with Hal, gives him a notebook that she claims is her original work. It is an astounding treatise, so much so that Hal suspects that she may have plagiarized her father's work. Sister Claire also is in disbelief. Is Catherine lying or is she capable of developing mathematical proofs beyond those of her father? 

The question hangs in the balance until the very last words of the play.

If all of the above reminds you of "A Beautiful Mind," you are not too far off "Proof" was written well before the famous screenplay was published. It focuses on the daughter, not the emotionally troubled mathematical genius. 

Gainesville is the perfect backdrop for this intellectual theatrical excursion. Be warned that there are some objectionable expletives used very matter-of-factly. "Proof" is a contemporary work performed well by professional actors and runs through May 12 at the Hippodrome State Theater.  Matinees play on both Saturdays and Sundays. For more information call (352) 375-4477 or visit their Web site at hipp.gator.net. 
 

Jack Petro can be reached on the net at atheatrel@aol.com. 

Gainesville's Hippodrome Theatre Debuts 2001 Pulitzer Prize Winner PROOF
 

Theatre Review by DICK KEREKES (dickkerekes@yahoo.coin)
First Coast Entertainer

The Hippodrome Theatre in Gainesville I has scored another coup by securing the rights for David Auburns's award winning play “Proof." It may be a couple of years, at least; before community theaters will be able to do "Proof' and I don't know many that would undertake it for the reason that will follow in this review. This is an intelligent play about intelligent people and requires that an audience pay attention. For our undivided attention we were rewarded with a play that is a who did-it, a family drama and a bit of a thriller. At the Hippodrome we were also blessed by having exemplary acting and direction. The plot concerns a famous mathematician; Robert, who was brilliant in his youth (early 20s), but has been mentally ill for many years. He has now died, and his daughter Catherine, now 25, fears she has inherited not only his mathematical genius but also his mental illness. She has cared for him in his failing years, in their old home in Chicago. Older sister Claire had left home and lead a more stable and normal life in New York, but she has come back for the funeral. Her relationship with sister Catherine is tense and taut as the rivalry and resentment comes out in the open.  In this picture is Hal, a former student of the famous Robert, who has a Ph.D. in mathematics and is going through his mentor's many notebooks trying to find some hidden jewels or gems that may have inhabited the once-gifted man's mind in his later years. He becomes romantically involved with Catherine but she questions his motives. Is this show of emotion for her only to gain the possibility of making a great math discovery and claiming it for himself? The dead father is “alive" in flash back scenes with daughter Catherine. As played by veteran actor Eb Thomas, we gain a lot of insight into the character and feelings of this once-bright star that has now faded into a world of schizophrenia. The role of Catherine won a Tony for Mary-Louise Parker on Broadway, but I certainly cannot imagine it being done any better than the performance by Ibi Janko on the Hippodrome stage. This is a character that is complex with several layers of idiosyncrasies. Marguerite Stimpson is Claire. Ms. Stimpson just finished playing Anne in ”The Diary of Anne Frank." She is a very versatile actress, having played the much darker role of Alice in the Hippodrome's “Closer,” I liked her “Claire" even though many in the audience sitting near me regarded her as a pure bitch.  
 

Director Mary Hausch has an excellent feel for the material and the production is well-paced and the excellent blocking brings the actors almost into the audience. Sound designer Rocky Draud has assembled interesting music that seemed to have a "mathematical" bounce to it. Marilyn A. Wall's costume selections did a lot to further our feelings about the characters and put them into character. Robert Robins has added some evocative lighting. J. Jeffery Guice's marvelous set is just about perfect. The backyard of a old Chicago home comes to life when you enter the theater. It is complete with real grass and weeds. Mr. Guice has even finished the interior of the living room and kitchen as we do get a glimpse of it through the doors and windows. I walked around the edge of the stage for a real close look, and it is obvious the designer went to great pains to make it “real." The characters in the play mention several times how run-down the house is, but it is almost too we1l-built, with not a board loose or a bit of paint peeling on the sides. Oh, the windows were dirty, the only sign that the house had gone to seed. 'Proof' will remind you of the movie, “A Beautiful Mind" but director Haush points out in her notes in the program that the play was written long before the movie came to the screen. You can probably see 'Proof' some- time in the future at another theater, but I can guarantee it won't be the same experience as you would have at the Hippodrome. The intimate seating arrangement of the Hippodrome is unmatched anywhere in the North Florida area. If fine acting and intelligent scripts turn you on make the 75-mile trip to Gainesville to see "Proof." I highly recommend it. The production runs through May 12th. Call 352-373-5968 for information and reservations. Check out their great website available quickly through any search engine. If you want proof that the Hippodrome is Broadway quality theatre right here in Florida, then see “Proof."