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    Proof
    Proof
    Proof
    Audiobook2 hours

    Proof

    Written by David Auburn

    Narrated by Anne Heche, Robert Foxworth and Full Cast

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    An enigmatic young woman. A manipulative sister. Their brilliant father. An unexpected suitor. One life-altering question. The search for the truth behind a mysterious mathematical proof is the perplexing problem in David Auburn's dynamic play. Starring Anne Heche and Jeremy Sisto, Proof is a winner of the 2001 Tony award for Best Play as well as the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

    Includes an interview with Dr. Carrie Bearden, a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Assistant Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of California-Los Angeles. Dr. Bearden is working to identify brain-based traits that may provide clues as to the underlying causes of psychosis and bipolar disorder. She joined us to talk about the role of heredity in mental illness and the links between genius and madness.

    Also includes an interview with Steven Strogatz, a professor at the Cornell University School of Theoretical and Applied Mathematics. Dr. Strogatz is the author of three books, including Sync and The Calculus of Friendship, and has authored a column on mathematics for the New York Times. Dr. Strogatz joined us to talk about popular stereotypes of mathematicians, math as a "young man's game," and the question of gender bias in the field.

    An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring:
    Anne Heche as Catherine
    Jeremy Sisto as Hal
    Robert Foxworth as Robert
    Kaitlin Hopkins as Claire

    Directed by Jenny Sullivan. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles.

    Proof is part of L.A. Theatre Works’ Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays. Major funding for the Relativity Series is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to enhance public understanding of science and technology in the modern world.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherL.A. Theatre Works
    Release dateJan 1, 2001
    ISBN9781580815031
    Proof
    Author

    David Auburn

    David Auburn is an American playwright whose 2000 play Proof won the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was also adapted into a film. He has received the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in Manhattan.

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    Reviews for Proof

    4/5

    261 ratings19 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A play dealing with mental illness and mathematics. The very idea sounds unworkable but it isn't. The mathematics are not explicated in great detail, and form sort of a silent extra character. The mental illness is more the subject of the play, and the idea of hereditary schizophrenia is touched on here, without any great depth or resolution. The final take home message almost seems to echo that of A Brilliant Mind, as though the writer's of the world were pointing an accusing finger at mathematicians and saying "Crazy!". So, should we ask ourselves, does math make people crazy? Or maybe the question is, do only crazy people love math? Or maybe there's something else altogether that has brought together this convergence of math and mental illness. An interesting play, and one that is worth the time to read.
    • 4/5
      “If I go back to the beginning, I could start it over again. I could go line by line; try and find a shorter way. I could try to make it... better.”

      I initially saw this play in a local production - where they changed the context to my local town rather than in the US. I went in with no knowledge of the play, and found myself seeing a story partially my own. So I sought out the paperback to read it all over again.

      Proof follows a girl, Catherine, who is caring for her father living with a mental illness. Her father was once a highly successful university mathematician, but as his illness progressed he was unable to continue his work researching and guiding young students. Catherine gave up her own university studies as her father became more unwell - torn between feeling responsible for her father and resenting what she has given up. Catherine fears she may suffer from the same madness as her father, but definitely has his mathematical brilliance.

      I can relate to Catherine, as I also had a dad who lived with schizophrenia. The constant struggle to balance loving and looking after him, and building a life of my own. However, where Catherine's father was a successful mathematician, my father was a "failed" art teacher - he became ill before he finished his studies.

      So while, my heart broke for Catherine and her fathers reality, I couldn't help but notice how much they focused on how sad it was he couldn't do maths anymore. Many of those who suffer from a mental illness, do not have something great and admirable to be remembered for; their battles are just surviving every day. I still feel like my dad never left a real mark on this world, that in his unexpected death he just faded away - not art show, no students to remember him fondly, just an existence cut short.

      I do think this is an important play, bringing light to how mental illness affects everyone. How much it can hurt to see your loved ones fade away. How our lives can change if we become a carer. But, I do think it relies on the 'sadness' that he can't be a great man anymore; there is rarely glory in mental illness.
    • 4/5
      Good production, although the recording omits the end of act 2 scene 4 between Catherine and Robert. It should be between chapters 23-24 in this edition.
    • 5/5
      A truly brilliant look at how genius and mental instability fall hand in hand. The play brings up the distress of creation and anxiety of work that is passionate yet not understood by the masses.
    • 5/5
      After the death of her Mathematician father dies, Kate is left to deal with his bereaved students. Though her father's decline was slow and complete, one persistent admirer, Hal, is sure that some unknown formula of great value could lie among his many discarded notebooks. Although Kate is sure that her father was rendered incapable of working during his illness, she allows Hal to review his notebooks. Eventually, they sleep together and Kate reveals a hidden notebook with a proof in it. Hal is thrilled, believing his faith in her father has been vindicated. But Kate explains that she's the one who wrote the proof. Both Hal and Kate's sister don't believe her. Kate's sister thinks she's suffering from the same onset of mental illness that her father had. She wants to take Kate back with her to New York. Hal takes the notebook to analyze with some colleagues. When he eventually returns he finds Kate has just emerged from a deep depression. She doesn't want to speak to him but he confesses that now he believes her. The two reconcile and begin to talk through the proof together.
    • 3/5
      Downloaded the L.A. Theatre Works version from the library. Would give this four stars, but Anne Heche was very whiny. Suspect I'd have liked it better just reading rather than listening.
    • 5/5
      One of the first plays I read in college (05-06) and it was engrossing to see the line between madness and genius explored.
    • 2/5
      If I counted correctly "FUCK" is used 19 times, "God Damm" around 6, and "Jesus" used as a swear word a few times too. It's sad because the basic story is rather good. It suggests if love is based on trust or sex or both what will result? And, what is the best way to handle mental illness? But, there is something else going on in this play. Does Mr. Auburn want to desensitize us to swearing? Does he want the playgoer to leave his values at the theater door as he mocks the God most Americans worship? How politically correct is this play? Well, just look at the awards given it!!!
    • 4/5
      A play dealing with mental illness and mathematics. The very idea sounds unworkable but it isn't. The mathematics are not explicated in great detail, and form sort of a silent extra character. The mental illness is more the subject of the play, and the idea of hereditary schizophrenia is touched on here, without any great depth or resolution. The final take home message almost seems to echo that of A Brilliant Mind, as though the writer's of the world were pointing an accusing finger at mathematicians and saying "Crazy!". So, should we ask ourselves, does math make people crazy? Or maybe the question is, do only crazy people love math? Or maybe there's something else altogether that has brought together this convergence of math and mental illness. An interesting play, and one that is worth the time to read.
    • 4/5
      The Short of It:A past-paced, gripping play about young woman struggling with the recent loss of her father, the arrival of her uptight sister, and her own self-doubt over whether or not she’s sane.The Rest of It:Proof, a play by David Auburn is about a young woman named Catherine, who finds her sanity questionable after caring for, and losing her father to mental illness and heart failure. After spending the last few years frustrated and concerned over her father’s wellbeing and internalizing those feelings, she is suddenly thrust into society and forced to look at herself. We are invited into her world to feel as she does, vulnerable, fragile and completely unsure of herself.If the storyline sounds familiar to you, you might be remembering the movie which came out in 2005 and starred Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anthony Hopkins. As far as adaptations go, the movie was actually pretty good.I read the play for my Contemporary Lit class and I loved it. It’s filled with conflict and doubt and then there are the conversations that revolve around mathematics (might as well be a different language to me) but they were necessary and powerful in conveying the absolute brilliance of both father and daughter. The main question here is whether or not Catherine has inherited her father’s mental illness as well. Auburn does an excellent job of keeping the reader guessing. It’s a quick read, only 96pp but as soon as I finished it I went right back and read it again.It’s been a long time since I’ve read a play but it was refreshing and broke up my reading rut. Reading it reminded me of all the drama classes I took in college. So much is left up to your interpretation and I sort of like being challenged that way.After reading it, I saw the movie and it was really very good. The whole experience was a win-win.
    • 4/5
      Excellent play. Having seen older relatives deal with Alzheimer's disease it was quite an intriguing read.
    • 4/5
      Catherine is the 25-year-old daughter of Robert, a brilliant mathematician who had a mental break down. She's struggling with her father's death and her fear that she could have the same mental instability. Robert's former student Hal believes that despite Robert's disease he might have come up with another mathematical break through before his death. One of the reasons I've really enjoyed reading plays this year is the deep glimpse it gives readers into the author's intentions. For example, one stage direction in the play is... (Beat. Morning-after awkwardness.) Though the actors can demonstrate this, reading it tells you exactly what the playwright intended. This play is so well written and paced. It's one of my favorites I've read this year. It doesn't tell the reader everything upfront and you have to make your own assumptions with the info you're given.
    • 5/5
      This is a reread for me as I'm teaching the play next week. It's a short, stunning play (it won a Pulitzer) about math, madness, and family dynamics. Catherine, a brilliant mathmetician, gave up her hopes of a college education and a career to care for her mathmetician father, who had "gone bonkers." Now she wonders if she is going down the same path, and her sister Claire's oversolicitousness isn't helping. After her father's funeral, his former student finds an impossibly brilliant mathmatical proof in the professor's notebooks. The question is: who wrote it? The play is sad, witty, and, yes, hopeful, all in one.
    • 5/5
      This has been one of my all-time favorite plays for a very long time. It may be because of the subject matter: mathematics and psychology. This is the story of a 25-year-old woman who is the daughter of a famous mathematician who went insane. She grapples with the question of her own sanity, her future, a new man in her life, and her prudent sister after her father's death. It brings up so many questions I've had for myself that it has always been easy for me to identify with it.I saw this play produced very well and the movie, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, and Jake Gyllenhaal, is also done particularly well (with a script written by the play's author and following the play closely with some very interesting changes due to the added flexibility of a film rather than a play). Auburn's poetic writing from the point-of-view of an insane genius is moving and magnificent. Catherine's character is wholly developed and realistic, being someone I could see being friends with.If there is a production of this in your area, I encourage you to go! As a fine substitute, rent the movie. And above all, read Auburn's beautiful play!
    • 5/5
      A fascinating, layered look into the lives of a brilliant mathematician and his mathematically gifted daughter. Despite the heavy role math plays in the story, there is very little actual mathematics involved in this play. Instead, Auburn addresses larger concerns that could refer to any subject matter: lost potential and the question of when it becomes too late to make certain choices in one's life; family and the cost of caring for loved ones to the detriment of one's own interests and progress; the fine line between grief and madness; aging and all of its potential for destroying a person long for they die. A poignant, involving play where the characters are always intriguing and real, even when they are not particularly lovable.
    • 5/5
      This is a short but intense play, filled with wonderful scenes for acting classes (always a boon!). The characters - Catherine, especially - are compelling without being terribly likeable, which is always interesting to see in theatre. It reads more like a novel than a play, and Auburn's style is incredible.
    • 5/5
      Brilliant mix of math and life. If you've seen the movie, forget it and read the play instead (or go see a stage production). If you enjoy the television show Numb3rs, you'll enjoy this one too. Catherine is a compelling heroine because she is so flawed and so real, as are her relationships with her family. This play is a quick read that will stick with you.
    • 5/5
      This is the play I'm doing for my final project and I am so glad I chose it. The strange juxtaposition of theatre with math makes this play very fresh and new. The relationship between Catherine and Hal was also a big selling point for me, as it reminds me infinitely of myself.
    • 3/5
      Short and sweet. Unrealized potential because family obligations have gotten in the way. Auburn really portrays the difficult time of dealing with an aging parent.