Looking for proof of one’s achievement

The ongoing theatre and music festival at the National Academy of Performing Arts has thus far staged plays with a variety of themes and types. 

The presentation staged this past Friday was one that was highly philosophical in content. Titled ‘Proof’, it is the story of a young girl, Catherine, who happens to be the daughter of a just-deceased mathematical genius, Robert. 

Catherine had cared for her father through a lengthy mental illness. Upon Robert’s death, his ex-graduate student, Harold Dobbs, with the nickname of Hal, discovers a paradigm-shifting proof about prime numbers in Robert’s office. 

The riddle that arises is: can Catherine prove the evidence’s authorship? 

Along with demonstrating the proof’s authenticity, the daughter finds herself landed in a romantic relationship with Hal. Even though a little slow moving, the play brought to the fore many daily life situations most profoundly. 

Laquetta Carpenter’s astute direction and the adept fulfillment of roles by the cast made the play an absolute pleasure to watch. 

The climax comes when Catherine discloses that it was she who had found the proof and an intricate situation results with Hal’s skepticism about the whole thing.

Catherine’s portrayal of a person who is facing the pushes and pulls of a mental crisis are so vividly depicted through her role which she renders so powerfully. 

However, the most prominent aspect of the play is the character portrayed by Sonia Ashraf, who plays Catherine’s sister. Her fresh, stunning good looks really made it a pleasure to watch the play. Her presence added the ambience of absolute radiance.

Laquetta Carpenter, a lecturer at the department of Theatre and dance at the Texas State University at Austin, Texas, USA, infused real life into an otherwise slow moving play through her adroit direction.