jabbering about a revelatory mathematical proof. Catherine shocks them with a challenging statement; an unsettling debate follows. Claire postpones returning to NYC. The ensuing stalemate, once broken, keeps both women busy. With only hours to spare, a dubious Hal returns to that old familiar porch and Catherine in time for a soul-baring conversation.
Veteran director and ETH cofounder Cliff Dean has been eyeing this exceptional drama since its debut. While planning this season’ s schedule, cofounder Robert Rumpf pressed him to include Proof. Dean embraced the demands built into the play’ s unique structure,“ Starting with a dead man’ s ghost, then a scene split in two parts and occurring at different points in the play, plus the two flashbacks.” It’ s for the director to show the audiences various time differences clearly— and did he ever.
Dean made use of tools available, calling on managing artistic director Paul Glaser’ s video projection knowhow and composer skills, and Heiko Böttner, light designer and lighting / sound technician. Projection equipment was installed in 2022, providing many solutions to a small stage’ s challenges: location anchors, stage depth, widening the visual scope, atmospheric, and, wait for it, the passage of time. The result in Proof is stupendous, mesmerizing. Glaser’ s music is whimsical as well as brooding with an uplifting poignancy.
The London thespians’ astute portrayals project each character’ s distinctive qualities and humanity. Georgiana Casbarra captures Catherine’ s enigmatic doubt-ridden yet fiery temperament and her guarded, cautious brilliance; Richard Ings brings Robert’ s illusionary parallel personalities to light— there’ s a scene of his inner struggle on the back porch that is painful to watch; Peter Dewhurst cannily portrays both Hal’ s idolization and his well-meaning kindness, sympathy, and tenderness for Catherine; Katherine Bristow manages to show Claire’ s manipulativeness and yet suffocating absenteeism guilt before settling for the situations actuality.
The ethos of Auburn’ s foresight clearly depicted in Proof attests to individuals’ humanity— their capacity for compassion, kinship, and love. Humor is woven into even its testiest dialogue, acuteness within its strife, empathy in its doubt-laden painful passages. Yet shimmering just below the surface is hope, reflecting the feasibility of reconciliation.
PROOF runs through April 11, 2026. Premiering April 30 is ALL NEW PEOPLE, a comedy about unremitted suicide by Zach Braff, of TV and film fame, playing through June 27, 2026.
Evening and matinee performances; tickets available at the theater or online: www. englishtheatre. de. The English Theatre of Hamburg, Lerchenfeld 14, 22081 Hamburg, Tel: 040-227 70 89; U-Bahn Mundsburg.
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