Edgy "Proof" on Sierra Madre stage

---Theatre Review

Intense and thought provoking, the Pulitzer Prize winning play "Proof" by David Auburn explores the mysterious area of the brain that shimmers between genius and madness. When does a person´s mind cross over? How can you know when it does? Or if it does?

Robert (played by J. P. Bumstead) was a brilliant mathematician and a university professor. His younger daughter Catherine (Alesa B. Gantz) may have had some of his genius, but she forfeited her chance at education to become his sole caretaker for five long years when his mind slipped into madness.

Selflessly Catherine worked to keep him from being institutionalized, and was rewarded by a brief nine-month period in which her father´s mind was lucid and logical. But the darkness descended again, this time permanently, and Catherine began to show signs of clinical depression.

Claire (Laurie Naughton Okin), Catherine´s older sister, has arrived to settle the estate and sell the house. She watches Catherine´s moods uneasily. Inside the house Hal (Chris Payne), the mathematician´s young (and handsome) protégé, is searching Robert´s numerous notebooks, hoping – futilely it seems – to find something of lasting significance.

Catherine is attracted to him and trusts him – perhaps mainly for his fun-loving normalcy – but her shocking disclosure at the end of Act I rocks their world. Even Claire is shaken by what it could mean.

Through a series of clever flashbacks, the audience comes to understand, and yes even love and respect, the old mathematician. (Bumstead´s skill at portraying lucidity and madness equally well is astounding.) We also learn that both sisters have sacrificed for their father in their own way.

The interactive scenes between these sisters are wonderfully choreographed, intense and satisfying. Whether the moment is angry, humorous, uneasy, or touching, neither actress breaks – even minutely – from the character she´s portraying. Bravo! for their superb talent, and for Barbara Schofield´s keen direction!

As always, David Calhoun´s set design is exact and evoctive; the lighting inventive; and the sound effects impressive. Together, they make any production at the Sierra Madre Playhouse a truely enjoyable experience.

"Proof" is playing Friday & Saturday evening at 8:00 and Sundays at 2:30, now through August 1, 2009

Admission is $20. Seniors (65+) and students (13-17), $17, and children (12 and under), $12.

For reservations, call (626) 355-4318 or visit www.sierramadreplayhouse.org

The Playhouse is located at 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. Ample free parking is behind the theater.