This ‘Proof’ Doesn’t Fully Deliver on Its Concept

Much has been written, in fiction and non-fiction, about the potentially fine line between genius and madness, but few contemporary plays have explored the subject in as accessible or entertaining a manner as “Proof.” David Auburn’s play, which premiered on Broadway in 2000 and won both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize the following year, focuses on the daughter of a brilliant mathematician who, floundering in her mid-20s, fears she has inherited the mental illness that stymied her father after his early success.The original Broadway production starred Mary-Louise Parker, who also won a Tony for her portrait of the young woman, Catherine, and Larry Bryggman as her dad, Robert; then-rising troupers Johanna Day and Ben Shenkman played, respectively, Catherine’s older sister, Claire, and Hal, a student of Robert who has a crush on Catherine. Stage and screen favorites such as Len Cariou, Neil Patrick Harris, and Jennifer Jason Leigh filled in various roles during a run of more than 900 performances.For a new revival, which has opened at the Booth Theatre, director Thomas Kail has recruited a similarly starry but more racially diverse company; a few tweaks have been made to the script accordingly. Black actors are cast in all but one part: Jin Ha, a South Korean native who has gained attention on Broadway and in television series such as “Only Murders in the Building” and “Pachinko,” plays Hal.Don Cheadle, a celebrated theater, television, and film veteran, plays Robert, while Kara Young, who last year became the first black actress to win Tony Awards in two consecutive years, appears as Claire. For Catherine, the central role in this ensemble piece, Mr. Kail enlisted a Broadway newbie: Ayo Edebiri, an Emmy Award winner for her work on Hulu’s “The Bear.” Like several productions Mr. Kail has helmed since gaining prominence as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s collaborator on “In the Heights” and “Hamilton,” this “Proof” is nonetheless more competent than revelatory. The director at least reins in the fondness for mannered touches that has marred his revivals of classics from “Anna Christie” to Sweeney Todd”; the most flamboyant feature here is Dede Ayite’s lighting, which between scenes traces in neon the triangular and rectangular patterns in Teresa L. Williams’s handsome set, as if to remind us we’re viewing a math wizard’s house. The performances, however, are a mixed bag. Ms. Young is, not surprisingly, razor-sharp as Claire, a successful currency analyst in New York who returns to the family home in Chicago for her father’s funeral. (The play incorporates flashbacks, along with one scene in which Robert’s presence carries a twist.) Her behavior towards her talented, troubled kid sister, who interrupted her own education to care for Robert as Claire lived the high life, veers between protective and patronizing, and is likely further complicated by jealousy: “I probably inherited about one-one thousandth of my father’s ability…Catherine got more,” Claire concedes.Ms. Young relays Claire’s mixed emotions and motives with wit and compassion, proving as touching in some scenes as she is hilarious in others. Mr. Ha is also excellent, capturing Hal’s admitted geekiness and, relatedly, his reluctance to get closer to Catherine, as well as his excitement as the two slowly bond on various levels — emotionally, romantically, intellectually.Alas, the two stars whose names are listed above the play’s title, in the program and on the marquee, are rather less impressive. Mr. Cheadle conveys Robert’s avid intelligence and the mix of warmth and concern with which he regards Catherine; what’s missing is a sense of psychological and emotional range, so that the difference between the character at his most lucid and as he is losing clarity is barely perceptible.As Claire, Ms. Edebiri exudes a languorous quality that contrasts sharply with the nervous energy and sardonicism Ms. Parker brought to the part, and doesn’t quite jibe with a heroine whose mind is running at an exhausting, possibly debilitating pace. It’s a smart, likeable performance, but neither Claire’s wisecracks, nor her expressions of frustration and fear, always carry the potency they should.Still, if you’ve never seen “Proof,” this capably rendered production may be worth your time. After all, it could be another quarter century before the play arrives on Broadway again.

This ‘Proof’ Doesn’t Fully Deliver on Its Concept

This ‘Proof’ Doesn’t Fully Deliver on Its Concept

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