A delay in final inspection of electrical conduit work in the new Mainstage Theater at Eastern Mennonite University has changed the play dates for the EMU Theater production of "Proof," originally scheduled to open this Thursday, Sept. 1.
Theater at EMU will perform the critically-acclaimed play 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 7-8, and 7 p.m. Sat., Sept. 10, in the Mainstage Theater in what was the old EMU gymnasium on the south end of the University Commons. The intimate 161-seat theater space was constructed in part with considerable volunteer labor from faculty, students and community persons.
"Proof," by David Auburn, and directed by Patrick R.K. Reynolds, visiting assistant professor of theater at EMU, won the 2001 Pulitzer Price and Tony Award for "Best Play."
"I regret the unexpected delay, but it’ll be worth the wait," Reynolds said. "This is a powerful play, and even though the cast was ready for opening night, we’ll be able to do several additional rehearsals."
Auburn’s masterpiece revolves around Catherine, a troubled young woman who has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. On the eve of her 25th birthday, following his death, she must confront her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind.
Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father’s madness – or genius