“Proof” Of Good Theatre Resides In Backyard Renaissance’s Production

 Backyard Renaissance Theatre Company is completing its sixth season with David Auburn’s  award winning “Proof” .  “Proof” was the longest running Broadway Play in two decades” according to Playbill Magazine. A Broadway play typically runs about nine months to a year. Auburn’s long running “Proof’ lasted as long as some musicals, thrillers and comedies” .

I am no mathematician. Not by any stretch of the imagination. So, when a play about the proof of a mathematical problem is put before me, even in an artistic setting, I am in awe. But I needn’t have worried. “Proof “is as much  about relations, family relations, father daughter affection for and pride in, and mental health as much as it is about proving a mathematical theory. And…as director  Anthony Methvin, has thrown some much needed humor when least expected.

Liliana Tatwatte and William Huffaker

Family dynamics, old wounds and new concerns, an outsider who has access to the deceased professor’s papers and a case of mental instability are the ingredients for this engrossing and very well done play, set (Yi-Chien Lee) on an old and decaying back porch of the family’s run down house in suburban Chicago.

When the play opens Catherine’s (brilliantly played by Liliana Talwatte) father (Francis Gercke),a  little heavy handedly comes up from behind her and wishes her a happy birthday. She is twenty five this day and he offers her champagne and a suggestion she party with friends, which of course, she replies 'she has no friends'. 

The play moves back and forth in time and unfortunately, what we don’t know until later revealed, is that her father, Robert, is dead and this is the day of his funeral. 

Francis Gercke and Liliana Talwatte

Over the course of time, Catherine tries to sort out what life without her father would look like. She has been his caretaker for the last five years and his student since she can’t remember. She knows that she has the same genius genes as he and worries she might inherit his mental instability. She is looking for a new start, a new beginning, perhaps going back to finish her college degree.That is about to happen when Robert’s nerdy grad student Hal ( a bit too much over the top William Huffaker) comes into the picture. Hal has been working with Robert going through his notes compiled in a series of some 103 notebooks. Now that her father is dead, she doesn't trust him to be alone with his papers. She also has an investment in the material.

Liliana Tatwatte and Wendy Maples

Adding to the family dynamic, Catherine’s sister Clare (a smart and powerful Wendy Maples) a force in her own right, descends on the family home demanding that they sell the family home and Catherine  goes back to New York with her and live there. 

But, where has she been all this time when Catherine dropped out of school to care for their father? 

Will Hal and Catherine learn to trust one another? 

Is Catherine really the stuff of which her father is made? 

More questions than answers, but worth the 2 ½ hour wait to find proof of what’s really on Auburn’s mind: genius, greatness  or madness.  As an aside, when Robert was Catherine's age, he was a certified genius. 

You be the judge.

This is the third time yours truly has seen this show; once on Broadway in its original production, once here in San Diego at the now defunct San Diego Rep. where Gercke played the nerdy student and now downtown at Backyard Renaissance Theatre. One can understand why it played on Broadway for two decades.

Wendy Maples and William Huffaker

There are many components to every piece of theatre. Without being too detailed, there are things to look at beside just the play: costumes, music, lighting, sets and direction are but some of the considerations not to mention the actors who take their trade very seriously and directors that put the pieces together to make sure that  proof of good theatre continues.  

San Diego stands with some of the best Regional Theatre companies in the country. As for this company, production values  run high. Hats off to Curtis Mueller, lighting, Matt Lescault-Wood, sound, Jessica John Gercke, costumes Chad Ryan, technical director. and of course Anthony Methvin.

Cast

Enjoy. 

See you at the theatre.

Dates: Runs Nov 25 and runs through Dec. 9. Showtimes: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays

Where: Tenth Avenue Arts Center, 930 Tenth Ave., downtown

Tickets: $18-$40

Phone: (760) 975-7189

Photo: Daren Scott

Online: backyardrenaissance.com