By Marilyn Jozwik
Families are complicated. Even very small families.
In “Proof,” by David Auburn, Lake Country Playhouse takes on the complex dynamics of a father and his two daughters, each devoted to each other while trying to navigate a serious family issue.
The play won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.
It is a poignant, tender story, beautifully written and beautifully acted by this cast of four. Naomi Tiefel directs.
At the center of “Proof” is Catherine, the daughter of Robert (Michael Chobanoff), a well-known mathematician, whose work is admired by his peers and his students at the University off Chicago.
Hal (Keenan Ellis) and Catherine (Anna Gumberg) have a serious discussion after her father’s death in a scene from Lake Country Playhouse’s “Proof.” Photos by James G. Baker
When Robert’s behavior becomes erratic, 25-year-old Catherine (Anna Gumberg) steps in to take care of him, while her older sister, Claire (Ariel Korducki), has left the family home to become a successful businesswoman in New York.
Catherine resents her for leaving her alone with her father and for trying to manage her life. Claire feels she is doing her best for the family by helping with bills. Says Claire, “You mathematicians. You stumble around creating these disasters then I have to fly in to clean it up!”
It soon becomes apparent that Catherine, like her father, is suffering from a mental illness – her depression leads to her inertia, leaving the home in shambles -- but her devotion to her father doesn’t waver. An ex-graduate student of Robert’s, Hal, has taken a shine to Catherine and tries to help her deal with her difficulties.
Catherine (Anna Gumberg) and her sister Claire (Ariel Korducki) sit on the swing in the family’s back yard and make plans for the future after their father’s death in a scene from Lake Country Playhouse’s “Proof.”
When Hal (Keenan Ellis) stumbles across a ground-breaking mathematical proof among Robert’s notebooks, relationships become frayed as the proof’s author is in question.
A play about a mathematician doesn’t sound like a barrel of laughs. But playwright Auburn has created such real characters and a story that is so relatable that it makes for a riveting drama, especially in the hands of this marvelous cast.
This is Catherine’s story, and Gumberg couldn’t be better. Catherine, like all of playwright Auburn’s characters, has many layers, which are cleverly revealed in flashbacks and her imaginings of her father. Each scene reveals something new, giving depth to the character which Gumberg embraces.
Gumberg must navigate three pivotal relationships. At the heart is the duty Catherine feels for her father.
The scenes of Catherine and her father are filled with emotional intensity. Perhaps the finest moment comes in Act II when Catherine finds Robert shivering outside their home, complaining about the heat inside. Catherine had decided to return to school after seeing several months of improvement in her father’s mental illness. He’s maniacally writing in his notebook, shivering uncontrollably but insisting he has returned to his former mental acuity and is frantically solving difficult problems. It is a scene so expertly created by Chobanoff and Gumberg. Your heart breaks for both characters.
As Catherine’s sister, Claire, Korducki has the right tone for the pragmatic businesswoman. She and Catherine both care for their father, but Claire thinks her financial support is superior to Catherine’s emotional support. Korducki as the perky, take-charge sister contrasts with Gumberg’s sullen, introspective character.
I really enjoyed Ellis’s portrayal of Hal, who is thrust in the middle of this family in turmoil. His Hal, the quintessential math nerd, is unassuming and earnest, which endears him to the family, and the audience. His relationship with Catherine is as complicated as some of the math problems he solves.
The compelling performances have the audience rooting for this family.
The show is set entirely on the family’s backyard deck, with a small table and chairs, a comfy padded chair and a swinging bench. Combined with Mike Rodenkirch’s set design and Breanne Brennan’s lighting, the audience is brought right into each scene.
If you go
Who: Lake Country Playhouse
What: “Proof”
When: Through May 23
Where: 221 E. Capitol Drive, Hartland
Info: www.lakecountryplayhousewi.org