YSU student troupe offers airtight 'Proof'

The play peeks into the world of mathematicians.
By GUY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- In the world of mathematics, a proof is a methodical demonstration that proves a statement is true.
This scientific process is at the core of "Proof," which is being staged by Blackbox Productions, the student troupe at Youngstown State University. The play opened Thursday.
"Proof," which won a Pulitzer Prize for its author, David Auburn, was made into a low-key but well-received movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins and Jake Gyllenhaal in 2005.
In its Blackbox version, "Proof" is a thoughtful and serious little drama that gives its four cast members a thorough workout. Worlds of ideas, character development and background are revealed through a series of back-porch discussions.
The play has the unusual benefit of providing insight into the insular and tense world of big-time mathematicians that centers around universities -- in this case, the University of Chicago.
The story
As the story begins, Catherine, the daughter of a brilliant mathmetician who shook the world in his early years but struggled with deepening insanity, is taking stock of her life. Her father has just died, ending years in which she had to put her own life on hold to take care of him.
Catherine is mentally exhausted and depressed. She's a 25-year-old with no social outlet, crushed by her caretaker responsibility and the sorrow of her father's failed mind and now, his death. She is also worried that she might have inherited his mental problems.
Nicole Dionisio handles this difficult and pivotal role well, conveying the stress that presses her from all sides.
Hal, a student of her father's, played by Richard Bell, is going through his mentor's notebooks, hopeful that a hidden gem of brilliance might be found.
He finds a proof that exceeds his wildest dreams but is thrown into a quandary when Catherine claims it was she, and not her father, who wrote it.
Catherine's sister, Claire, played by Angela Medaugh, jets in from New York for the funeral and to rescue her troubled sister. The two girls are like oil and water, and their rift grows when Claire sides with Hal in doubting that Catherine wrote the proof.
Shawn Lockaton plays their father, who advances the plot through several flashback scenes.
Director
Noelle Nackino, a regular in YSU theater productions, selected the sparse and somber "Proof" for her directorial debut.
Her production is a satisfying mental exercise that is written and performed like a mathematics theorem: airtight and always true.
"Proof" will be performed at 8 tonight and 3 p.m. Sunday at Spotlight Arena Theater in Bliss Hall at YSU. Call (330) 941-3105 for ticket information.