Overview
Synopsis
Catherine has inherited her late father’s mathematical brilliance, but she is haunted by the fear that she might also share his debilitating mental illness. She has spent years caring for her now-deceased father, and upon his death, she feels left alone to pick up the pieces of her life without him. Caught between a new-found connection with Hal, one of her father’s former students, and the reappearance of her sister, Claire, Catherine finds both her world and her mind growing increasingly unstable. Then Hal discovers a groundbreaking proof among the 103 notebooks Catherine’s father left behind, and Catherine is forced to further question how much of her father’s genius or madness will she inherit. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, David Auburn’s Proof is a passionate, intelligent story about fathers and daughters, the nature of genius, and the power of love.
Show Information
- Book
- David Auburn
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 2
- First Produced
- 2000
- Genres
- Drama
- Settings
- Unit/Single Set
- Time & Place
- 2000, the back porch of a house in hyde park, chicago
- Cast Size
- small
- Licensor
- Dramatists Play Service
- Ideal For
- community theatre, professional theatre, university, college, College/University, Community Theatre, Ensemble Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Small Cast, Star Vehicle Female, Includes Young Adult, Adult, Mature Adult Characters
Context
From the moment it first opened Off-Broadway in May of 2000, Proof met with tremendous critical acclaim. It won the Drama Desk Award for Best New Play, the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, The New York Drama Critics’ Circle Best Play Award, and – most notably – the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Proof premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club in a production directed by Daniel Sullivan. It sold out nearly its entire run on opening night,
to read the context for Proof and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
Act One
Scene 1
Proof opens on the back porch of a home in Hyde Park, Chicago, very late at night. Robert points out to his daughter, Catherine, that it is past midnight and thus it is now her twenty-fifth birthday. They celebrate by toasting with champagne. Robert and Catherine reminisce about her childhood. Robert suggests to Catherine that if she can’t sleep, perhaps she should do some mathematics, an idea that Catherine vehemently dismisses. Robert calls her lazy, expressing
to read the plot for Proof and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
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Lead |
Female |
Spoken |
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Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
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Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
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Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
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Videos
Quizzes
Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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Quote Analysis
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