It's all about the Proof
Photo provided by University Theatre
Actors Michael Oldham (Hal) and Rhiannon Fernandez (Catherine) agreed preparing for "Proof" was grueling work. The play has a mathematic theme and tells an unpredictable story an unstable mathmetician, his daughter and his protage. |
By Kirstie Hettinga
The Collegian
Proof focuses on the life of Catherine, (played by Rhiannon Fernandez) a young woman who has spent the past few years of her life caring for her mentally ill father. It shows how her father’s illness has influenced her, socially, psychologically and academically. Both Catherine and her father are mathematicians.
Catherine’s father, Robert (Elliott Montgomery) is a highly esteemed mathematician, a genius famous in the academic world. In better health Robert was a professor at a university in Chicago with graduate student Hal (Mike Oldham) dogging his heels.
Robert tells Catherine, crazy people don’t ask if they are crazy.
“The whole play is a little bit manic. Everyone is a little bit off,” said Jacque Babb, a theatre arts junior who portrays Catherine’s sister, Claire.
The play asks, what will Robert give his child? Will it be his mathematical genius or his tendency towards instability?
The play is based on relationships, those of a parent and his child, the bond between sisters and relationships that are romantic in nature. With just four weeks of rehearsal, the cast found their own relationships strengthening.
Fernandez said the show took a lot more personal time than she is used to devoting to a play.
“I can’t say I’ve had fun, but it’s awesome to feel so accomplished,” Fernandez said.
“It pulls your guts out,” Babb said about the show. All of the actors agreed it is an emotionally draining show to rehearse and perform each night. They said it is a difficult cast of characters to get in and out of. The emotional strain of the show has formed a close-knit cast with a feeling of all over camaraderie.
Bao Yang is the stage manager for Proof. She is a theatre arts major who will graduate this fall.
“I can relate to this play a whole lot, it’s dramatic and it’s touching,” Yang said.
Yang said people who have experienced family grief will know exactly what the characters are going though.
Proof was written by David Auburn and it won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2001.
The show features original music by the FresYes Allstarz! a local group that includes cast member Montgomery and Fresno State students Jay Felix, Damian Whitney and Fresno City College student Bill Heisdorf. Daniel Moore and Ben Parks, alumni of the theatre program at Fresno State, wrote the lyrics for the songs.
The cast said it is the people behind the scenes, those who write the music, work the lights and sound and get them ready to go on stage, who make the show happen.
“They’re the ones who add the extra oomph,” Fernandez said.
With their own preparation and a strong crew backing them up, the actors are ready for an audience.
Proof opens tonight at Fresno State’s John Wright Theatre at 8 p.m. Shows are Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at 8 p.m., Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. and Oct. 4-8 at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $8 for Fresno State Students with ID, $13 for Fresno State faculty, staff, seniors and non-Fresno State students and $15 general admission.
For information call 278-2216 or see www.csufresno.edu/Theatre.
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