I have a slight vested interest in watching this play for two reasons: First, I studied maths at university and second, I took part in an acting class last year when 2 other actors worked on and presented the last scene.
The play was performed in the theatre's studio space (the bar), which has seating on 3 sides, room for an audience of around 40 or so. Hence, it's a very intimate venue, ideal for a play with just four actors such as this.
There was a bare set other than 2 wicker chairs and matching table plus a pouffe and the whole piece takes place in this area. The action starts late at night in a house in Chicago with Catherine on her own. She is joined by her university professor father and it quickly transpires that it's her birthday, he is dead and it's the night before his funeral. There is an obvious closeness between them, particularly from the father's point of view. He has brought her a bottle of champagne which she proceeds to drink quite a lot of!
Catherine was brilliantly portrayed by Emma Yates, a real tour de force. Her American accent was flawless and you felt sympathy for her right from the start.
Unfortunately I was less enamoured with her father Robert (Robert Talbot) whose accent was rather shaky. It is not easy to play someone tortured and who is clearly ill but he came across as too nervous at times. Aside from his nervousness and despite the fact that Proof is a very wordy play, it flowed well and the scene changes were slick.
The accompanying music was very evocative and the lighting levels gave a good, appropriate atmosphere to the piece.
We are introduced to the other two actors later in Act 1, Catherine's older sister Claire (Jess Nichols) and her fellow mathematician and eventual love interest, Hal (Josh Holden). Claire has moved to New York and Catherine has been left to look after her father. This has led to a definite antagonism between the two siblings and was well played out, although Claire clearly does care for her younger sister; later in the play Catherine offers Claire the chance for a new start, to live in the Big Apple with her and her husband to be.
Hal is a nice guy, a bit of a geek who is not as academically gifted as Catherine and he plays drums in a college based rock band. He is instantly attracted to Catherine but mindful of who her father is; we see Hal and Catherine's burgeoning relationship ebb and flow nicely as the performance unfolded.
One of the more unusual aspects of this theatrical drama are the time shifts in the second half between what was the present day (2000) and a few years earlier when Robert was still alive, though seriously ill. I'm not a big fan of this device (which is used regularly in TV and film) but it was cleverly woven into the overall piece. It did mean several fairly quick off stage costume changes for Catherine but she handled them well.
I'm not going to give away the ending but it is neatly wrapped up in a low key, but effective conclusion.
This production of Proof runs every evening until November the 17th, starting at 7:30pm.
Reviewer - David Swift
on - 13/11/18
No comments:
Post a Comment