| Proof
An unlikely West End hit and perhaps an even unlikelier
Hollywood blockbuster.
When the play Proof opened in the West End, I was delighted
to be asked to write a short piece about mathematics
for the programme. That was the only reason that I was
able to get hold of the hottest ticket in town.
My assistant Mina Varsani has written
the following article about this superb play.
_____________________________________
Proof is a play about mathematics
and mental illness. Not the usual fodder for Hollywood
hits, but nevertheless a resounding commercial success
and an outstanding play to boot.
The play arrived on the London stage in May 2002,
and, as is befitting the now celebrated Donmar Warehouse,
it bought with it a Hollywood superstar. However, whereas
Nicole Kidman had portrayed a series of risqué characters
in The Blue Room, Gwyneth took on a somewhat
less predictable role as Catherine, the daughter of
a deceased mathematician.
The drama takes place on a Chicago porch and centres
around 4 people; Catherine’s mentally ill mathematician
father (Robert) who has just died, Catherine’s older
sister who has come back home for their fathers funeral
(Claire), a Chicago University student who is attempting
to glean knowledge from Robert’s personal papers (Hal),
and Catherine herself, a young woman who has spent the
last the five years of her life looking after her father.
The story begins when her older sister Claire arrives,
expecting Catherine to sell her father's house and move
with her to New York. Meanwhile, Hal discovers a brilliant
mathematical proof amongst Robert’s papers, which Catherine
announces to be hers. Claire and Hal are, however, dismissive of Catherine’s
claims. Adding fuel to the fire is Claire’s belief that
her younger sister may have inherited their father’s
mental instability.
Proof is only the second play
to be written by the 32-year old playwright David Auburn,
and opened on Broadway in October 2002 to huge critical
acclaim. Hollywood actress Mary-Louise Parker, star
of Fried Green Tomatoes
and Woody Allen's Bullets
Over Broadway originally took on the
role of Catherine under the guidance of director
John Madden, fresh from his celluloid successes with Shakespeare in Love
and Captain Corelli's Mandolin.
The Broadway run of Proof surpassed all
expectations, taking advance bookings of $2million.
Following in the footsteps of the physics based play,
Copenhagen by Michael
Frayn, Proof
went on to win a Tony Award for best play, as well as
a Pulitzer Prize for Drama,
and numerous other awards. Broadway seems to have found
a new source of material in mathematics and science.
It was only a matter of time before the play
ventured off the stage and knocked on the doors of Hollywood.
Paltrow’s on screen successes have included
the British made Sliding Doors, the Italian
based Talented
Mr Ripley and the multi-Oscar winning Shakespeare In Love.
And it is the common denominator of all of these productions,
Miramax Films, who have bought the film rights to Proof. Although work on the
movie has not yet begun, the film-maker Rebecca Miller
and director John Madden (who worked on the stage versions
of Proof) are already signed
up, as is Gwyneth herself, for whom the film rights were
specifically bought. Only time will tell if the on-screen
version of this play is as successful as its on-stage
counterpart.
|
 |
