a href=”https://www.dailyegyptian.com/contactus.html”bDE Staff Reporter/b/abrspan class=”realsmall”bDaily Egyptian/b/span

The ‘Proof’ is in the play

The Stage Co.’s latest production brings together old and new faces on a Pulitzer Prize-winning script

Factoid:”Proof” will be performed at the Stage Co., 101 N. Washington St., for three consecutive weekends starting this Friday, April 4. For each of the weekends, performances will be at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sundays. There will be no performance on Easter Sunday, April 20. Tickets are $10 for the evening performances and $7 for the Sunday shows.

Recently closed on Broadway, “Proof” by David Auburn, a drama written in 2000, will be performed by the Stage Co. for three weekends in a row including April 4 through April 6, April 11 through 13 and April 18 and April 19.

The Stage Co. is presenting the audience with a play that has received the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and the 2001 Pulitzer Award for Best Drama. Friday and Saturday night performances begin at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees begin at 2 p.m.

Mary Boyle, stage manager, suggests buying tickets in advance since the theater almost always fills up. Tickets are $10 for evening performances and $7 for Sunday performances. They went on sale March 28. Contact the box office at 549-5466 for more information and reservations.

Directed by Christian H. Moe, the cast of “Proof” is made up of one founding member of the Stage Co., Craig Hinde, second-time performer Brett Batteau and newcomers Starina Johnson and Jennifer Chaney.

“Proof” is the story of Catherine (Johnson), a vigorous 25-year-old woman who tackles the tribulations of having a famous mathematician as a father, an unanticipated suitor and a puzzling mathematical proof, realizing that love can be the thing most complicated.

Tension is bound to occur when the practically emotionless world of mathematics and human relationships intertwine. This conflict plays out through Catherine’s relationships with her father, Robert (Hinde), Robert’s former student Hal (Batteau) and her sister, Claire (Chaney), a regular young woman. Catherine appears to have inherited some of her father’s talent for mathematics.

The play takes off when the audience discovers Robert and Catherine have more in common than their mathematical expertise.

Both Chaney and Johnson are debuting at the Stage Co., but Batteau joined the company this season in “Over the River and Through the Woods.” This is his second appearance. Batteau works for Coca-Cola as an account manager.

Johnson is a theater student at SIU, and Chaney, who is from Herrin, owns a kiosk in the Illinois Mall called Just Charming.

“Proof” is the last of the regular season shows, but the Dinner Theater featuring “Driving Miss Daisy” is already in the works as auditions begin next week.

The Play Selection Committee chose “Proof” and labels it as a new, exciting play. Others taking part in the play’s production include Jane Renfro, costume coordinator; Chelcee Loughry, props manager; Loren Cocking, stage designer; and Katie Hughes on sound.