The Stagecrafters theater opens its 2022-2023 season with Proof, by David Auburn, written in 2000. The play tells the story of Catherine, a young woman of 25, daughter of an acknowledged mathematical genius. After her father’s death, following years of his severe mental illness throughout which she has served as his caretaker, Catherine is forced to re-evaluate her own life and her blinding fear for her future. She feels that her possibly great aptitude for mathematics might also predispose her ̶ like her father ̶ to mental collapse. Will a young mathematical scholar, who suddenly appears in Catherine’s life, help her move on with confidence?

This play, one of great emotional and intellectual power, despite the seriousness of its premise, moves fast and smoothly. Its fully human characters sustain our interest throughout. And at times it almost feels like a detective thriller with an ample dose of humor.

Proof won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2001.