Ensemble Theatre’s ‘Proof’ all adds up

What is your greatest desire in life? Is it money? Is it fame and recognition? Is it peace and mental stability? Is it love and sexual fulfillment? Is it simple creature comforts? Is it a loving family relationship? Is it discovering something new, novel and exciting?

In David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play “Proof” an examination of these basic desires are observed in great detail. “Proof” began in 1999 as a project at the George Street Playhouse in Brunswick, New Jersey. It premiered Off-Broadway in May 2000 transferring to Broadway in October of that same year winning the most prestigious of awards in 2001.

It is early September in Chicago, Illinois and Catherine (Rebecca Moseley) is having a “discussionment” with her father, Robert (Richard Perloff) a formerly brilliant mathematician who is struggling with acute mental illness. Robert chides Catherine for her late sleeping habits and wasting time reading stacks of magazines when she could be working in the field of mathematics, following in his footsteps. Seeing that it is 1:00 a.m., Robert wishes his daughter a happy 25^th birthday gifting her with what he thinks is a bottle of champagne but is in truth a cheap locally produced wine. Rather than fetch glasses, Catherine uncorks and begins to drink the wine right from the bottle.

It soon becomes apparent that Catherine worries about inheriting her father’s insanity. This idea is furthered when we find that Robert did in fact die a week ago and the funeral is set for the next day. With a bit of “social lubricant” in her system, Catherine falls asleep only to be awakened by Hal (Joe Pine), a former student of Robert who is now a teacher. Hal has spent the week going through hundreds of notebooks left behind from the master mathematician looking for something that would be worth publishing. Catherine assures Hal that the notebooks contain nothing but scribbles and nonsense as they were compiled during Robert’s darkest days.

Hal is in a really bad rock band made up of high end math geeks whose song “∄” or “The Number That Does Not Exist” consist of them standing on stage in complete silence for three minutes (its a math joke...get it?). Hal tries to chat up Catherine by inviting her to his band’s gig that evening/morning but Catherine is suspicious. She roots through his backpack looking for any pilfered notebooks...finding none. She then becomes enraged when she picks up his jacket to hand it to him and a notebook falls out. Accusing Hal of wanting to publish her dad’s work as his own she calls the police to report the theft.

Hal explains that his intention was to wrap the notebook and give it to her as a birthday gift as it contains a lucid passage of having a “good day” and thanking Catherine for taking care of him with an expression of hope for the future for both of them. Hal gives her the notebook and leaves as police sirens are heard in the distance.

The next day, Catherine’s sister Clair (Claudia Lief Zalevsky) arrives from New York to organize the funeral and wake. Clair attempts to initiate idle chitchat as Catherine is seething about Hal’s thieving, her father’s sudden death, Claire’s arrival all on top of a hangover from the cheap wine “left” by her dead father.

Claire announces her engagement and a January wedding and invites Catherine to move to New York to live at their place until she can locate an apartment. Catherine gets frustrated with all the questions. Claire informs her that the police had returned to check up on her and when Catherine tries to explain Hal and the purloined notebook she starts to sound unhinged.

On the day of the funeral, Hal arrives to apologize once more and asks to continue his work with the notebooks. Claire suggests that Catherine flirt with Hal which angers Catherine further. After the funeral, Claire holds a wake at the house for her friends along with Robert’s students. Catherine makes her way to the porch where Hal finds her and offers her a beer. Hal admits that he is not confident about his math abilities and that at 28 years old he is past his prime. Catherine reassures him that his best years are still ahead of him and Hal kisses her. After apologies for his taking the notebook and her calling the police they kiss again and so on and so on.

The next morning Catherine is again on the porch as a smitten Hal tells her he would like to spend the day with her. Catherine takes a gold chain with a key from around her neck and gives it to Hal. It unlocks a drawer on Robert’s desk. Hal re-enters the house.

Claire comes out nursing a hangover as a freshly romanced Catherine tries to make nice. Claire continues to push for Catherine to move to New York since the residence will soon be sold to the University. Catherine becomes enraged with Claire who insists that it is solely out of love as it was from her employment that the house had been paid for and Catherine’s education funded for. Catherine accuses Claire of wanting to have her committed as Claire admits that she had researched doctors and facilities in New York.

Hal excitedly reappears with a newly found notebook (from the locked drawer) that is a paradigm-shifting proof about prime numbers that will revolutionize modern mathematics. When Hal asks Catherine if she knew about the notebook she reveals that not only did she know about it...she wrote it. Now all that Catherine needs to do is prove that fact to Hal and Claire.

With the show being staged a week late due to CBTC it was truly worth the wait. This is a terrific ensemble cast that works extremely well together. Rebecca Moseley as Catherine gives an off kilter characterization that has you guessing if she truly is suffering from some sort of mental illness. The same with Richard Perloff as Robert who shifts from loving father to screaming madman in the blink of an eye. Joe Pine as the affable Hal plays a very believable personality who is very likable. Claudia Lief Zalevsky is perfect as the all too caring sister who is bent on taking over her sibling’s life.

Ian Hinz stage set and lighting design allows our imagination to fill in the spaces and is teamed with Rebecca Moseley’s props and sound design. Jill Kenderes has everyone appropriately costumed and Kari Barclay gives a feel of realness as intimacy director. The show is expertly directed by August Scarpelli.

This production is a perfect example of pure theater with real people dealing with real circumstances in a real environment. Theater and math geeks will totally relate and the rest of us will be totally entertained as we escape the world for a few short couple of hours. Well worth the walk from the JCU parking lot (there is also a cart available). Do the math.

The Ensemble Theatre production of “Proof” will be on stage in the Marinello Little Theatre in the Lombardo Student Center on the campus of John Carroll University through November 16, 2025. For more information and tickets go to https://www.ensembletheatrecle.org/ or call (216) 321-2930.