Genius collides with mental instability tonight as the Lost Flamingo Company performs Proof, a play that explores a woman’s struggle to step out of her father’s shadow and separate herself from her possible insanity.
Proof, written by David Auburn in 2001, was turned into a movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins and Jake Gyllenhaal in 2005. The play also won a Pulitzer prize and a Tony Award.
The play follows Catherine, played by senior Christine Sagar, as she deals with her father Robert’s recent death. It skips between the past and the present, revealing Robert’s mathematical genius as well as his struggle with mental instability.
In the play, Catherine decides to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a mathematician, but she fears that she will also follow him in his mental instability.
“Catherine goes from being a hopeful girl about to go off to college when her dad is healthy, to her father’s health crashing and having to give all of that up and take care of him,” Sagar said.
After Robert’s death, a mathematical proof is found in his office, and Catherine claims that she, not her father, wrote it, surprising everyone. Her claim causes the people around her to question her stability.
“Sanity is a big theme in the play because Robert’s character is on the brink of insanity and Catherine flirts with that as well,” said senior Doug Devor, who plays Robert.
Later in Robert’s life as he slips into insanity, he continues to think he is solving intricate math proofs that in reality are just gibberish.
“Knowing that they are mathematicians gives you insight into the levels of genius they have and it helps you to understand why their mental stability could break,” Sagar said.
The play deals with Catherine’s trust issues, relationships and her struggle to show her genius and prove her sanity, Sagar said.
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