For several years now, Catherine has cared for her widowed father, Robert, a mathematician famous for the complex proofs he has solved. The professor is also known for his increasing mental illness, something that caused Catherine to leave university to stay at home with him.
Robert dies, discharging her of that responsibility and Catherine, also a talented mathematician, is faced with a daunting what’s-next, not helped initially by the arrival of her sister Claire – the one who got away and left Catherine alone to handle their father.
It’s Proof, the play by David Auburn and winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. 4th Wall Theatre Co. has mounted a production that opens this weekend at Spring Street Studios.
Meg Rodgers stars as Catherine and Laura Kaldis as Claire while Thomas Prior is the father and David Kenner is graduate student Hal. Sophia Watt directs. The setting is Chicago in the year 1999.
This isn’t just the story of a family dealing with death, though.
It also zeros in on the expectations we have of the people in our lives. When grad student Hal comes to sort through Robert’s papers after his death, he finds an elegantly devised new proof involving prime numbers.
A previously undiscovered bit of genius from the master? No, Catherine says, I wrote it.
No one believes her. Including Hal who has clearly expressed his romantic intentions toward her.
The sisters’ mother died at an undisclosed time before and – particularly Catherine – forced to take on heavy responsibilities too soon. Catherine is afraid that along with her father’s mathematical prowess, she may have inherited his mental illness as well.
“Everything she did was for somebody else. She’s been taking care of her father for more than five years and he’s schizophrenic and he has episodes. It’s been just her and him. She’s been living in isolation. She’s been giving up a lot of what she wanted to do with her life,” says Rodgers about her character.
“I’m really inspired by Catherine’s strength, her intelligence and think it captures a very short period of time in which she’s about to be launched into herself and her adulthood, Rodgers says.
Kaldis says she was introduced to Proof while she was an undergrad. “It’s so good. There’s so much to work with. But I thought it was something that maybe passed me by.”
Given a chance to be part of it “sparked a re-ignition of that little theater student. It just clicked,” she says. She’s the oldest among her siblings so she felt a lot of connection to the character.
And one thing she wants to make clear is that even though Claire is sometimes played as a villain, Kaldis (and Rodgers and director Watt) don’t see her that way.
“She’s been tasked with a lot of responsibility often before she should have taken on that responsibility. And yet she got out, left home and made a life for herself. She’s smart and ambitious and made a life for herself. And very resilient. I find those qualities incredibly encouraging and inspiring.
“I think there’s a lot that ‘s overlooked with Catherine and misunderstood with Claire,” says Kaldis. “These are real people going through a very truncated grief period. Plus the history of the family dynamic and what they have and have not had the opportunity to do. They’re both at fault and they’re both right.”
The sisters are not particularly good at communicating with each other. Claire tries to help a sister who she believes is fragile while Catherine hangs desperately onto her desire to assert herself and finally control her own life. And Claire’s “help” however well-intentioned is not quite as benign as just an airplane ticket to New York City. It also involved researching doctors and institutions for Catherine.
In some ways. what happens is like a proverbial O’Henry ending with confounding misunderstandings on both sides. Catherine resents Claire because she’s left to work in New York City. Claire left for work to be able to pay the bills for the house mortgage and Catherine’s education.
“It’s a brilliantly written story about family and friendship and romance and mental health. It dives deep into what we all need to fight through to thrive in our life,” Rodgers says.
Performances are scheduled for September 10 (preview) with opening night September 11 through October 3 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and Monday September 28, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays at Spring Street Studios, Studio 101, 1824 Spring Street. For more information, call 832-767-4991 or visit 4thwalltheatreco.com. $43-$83.
