Proof

By: David Auburn

Narrated by: Anne Heche, Jeremy Sisto, full cast

Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

(P)2004 L.A. Theatre Works

Critic reviews

Pulitzer Prize winner, Drama, 2001

"A masterpiece that deserves a place in the American literary canon." (Time)

"A sterling cast interprets this brainy drama with passion and commitment.... The emotional stakes are high and are played to the hilt. The proof is in the listening." (AudioFile)

"A complex, often startling picture of life in the region....[Jones'] narrative achieves crushing momentum through sheer accumulation of detail, unusual historical insight, and generous character writing." (Publishers Weekly)

"Jones has written a book of tremendous moral intricacy." (The New Yorker)

Quick, Compelling, and Thought provoking.

This play deserves the Pulitzer Prize. Saw in the theater and it was magical. Anne Heche is a little odd in her delivery.

Half a Masterpiece

Half does not mean that the text is abridged or anything. It's purely a comment on the performance. Robert Foxworth is quite good as the father, and Jeremy Sisto as the boyfriend is also good. But ye gods, Anne Heche is almost unbearable. She imparts this nasally shriek of a voice in almost every line, and I practically winced several times as she moved into dog whistle territory. I exaggerate but only a little.

But the story. What a beautiful story. This play is a modern classic. It is the story of a parent who is overbearing and a genius, and a daughter who feels she'll never measure up. I never saw this play but read it for an acting class and watched the film version (brilliantly acted by Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, and Jake Gyllenhall), and absolutely loved it. The story is extremely moving, as a father pushes his daughter and the daughter who though brilliant, feels unequal to his legacy. The boyfriend and the sister are the other characters who affect how we view the conflict in the play.

Still, as much as I love this play, and ordinarily I think Heche is an underrated performer, my only caveat to anyone thinking of getting this is to listen to a sample before you buy. Heche made this a tough one for me to get through. It is an important play and it tackles big ideas. Just be forewarned

Riveting out of the gate

Would you listen to Proof again? Why?

I was looking for an alternative to fiction / non-fiction book. I'd never listened to a play, but now I am hooked. The smaller time commitment of just over 2 hours allowed me to listen to this in 2 days. The performance is amazing- just enough sound effects detail for my mind to "see" it. Dynamic and taut.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Catharine, of course. Anne Heche was so intense in this role. Cascading up and down in tone and emotions, it kept the tautness of the play going from beginning til end. I loved her range of vulnerability and confidence.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, that doesn't really apply here since there were multiple characters.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

All of them.

Wonderful

Funny, poignient, heartbreaking and hopeful. Beautifully narrated!

Excellent adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize play

I had the good fortune to see Anne Heche twice in the Broadway production of PROOF and was delighted to see that her excellent performance has been preserved on audio (Gwyneth Paltrow was picked for the movie version before anyone knew how good Heche would be). The supporting performances are equally satisfying in this intelligent, compelling and, dare I say it, moving play. More than most plays, this one works beautifully in the audio medium.

Oh! how near . . .

The four characters in the play are well developed and the plot is interesting. The main character, Catherine, is a lively young woman who—having taken care of her mathematically gifted and mentally challenged father, Robert, recently deceased and appearing as a ghost or hallucination and during flashbacks—might have inherited both her father’s genius and his instability. For a while, Auburn kept me guessing whether she had or hadn’t. Robert’s former graduate student Hal who becomes romantically involved with Catherine, and Catherine’s caring yet controlling sister struggle with the same questions. After several intriguing plot twists, the conflict is resolved in a difficult but believable reconciliation. This thought provoking, moving play addresses the inheritance of and relationship between brilliance and madness—probably manic depression—with compassion and insight, humor and seriousness.

Wonderful Play

Would you consider the audio edition of Proof (Dramatization) to be better than the print version?

Yes, because this is a dramatization with great actors.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Engaged with all of them. Of course the two lead characters were my favorites compared to the self righteous sister.

Which scene was your favorite?

I really liked all of them. They all contributed to story and my engagement.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and no. One sitting would be great if doable, but I did over 4 or 5 sessions and enjoyed it thoroughly even with being in the middle of at least 10 other books.

Any additional comments?

I like this kind of dramatization. It was so good, looking for more like it.

Peformed quite well

Great pacing allows the comedic moments in this drama to shine. Beautifully performed. Heche and Sisto hit every mark.

briliant play

great play well performed

Atrocious Language

Dowlnoaded it, listened to the first five minutes, and turned it off, upset that I waisted money on something so highly rated with such filthy language. If you want "good" entertainment, this might not be the place to start.