One of the most acclaimed plays of recent seasons, Proof explores the unknowability of love as much as it does the mysteries of mathematics.
On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a young woman who has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, Robert, must deal not only with his death but with the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire, and with the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father's who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that Robert left behind.
As Catherine confronts Hal's affections and Claire's plans for her life, she struggles to solve the most perplexing problem of all: How much of her father's madness―or genius―will she inherit?
Editorial Reviews
“Proof...a play about scientists whose science matter less than their humanity...All four [characters]--whether loving, hating, encouraging or impeding one another--are intensely alive, complex, funny human.” ―John Simon, New York
“An exhilarating and assured new play...accessible and compelling as a detective story.” ―Bruce Weber, The New York Times
“Auburn has taken on some biggies here; what the link may be between genius and mental instability, why it is that lives get stuck, and how elusive the truth can be...[Proof's] level of accomplishment and the realness of its characters show that Auburn has both depth and a voice.” ―The New Yorker
About the Author
David Auburn was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Ohio and Arkansas. His plays include Skyscraper (Greenwich House Theater) and Fifth Planet (New York Stage and Film). He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and, for Proof, the Kesselring Prize. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
