Proof study guide

TheatreWorks S I L I C O N V A L L E Y

PROOF

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Table of Contents For Teachers and Students • For Teachers: Using this Study Guide 4 • For Students: The Role of the Audience 5

Exploring the Play • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Proof Plot Summary 6–8 Understanding Plot: Sequencing Events 9 Create a Timeline 10 Cause and Effect in Proof 11 About the Play and Playwright 12–13 Proof of What Happens When You Just Let Go 14 What Is a Proof? 15 Questions to Chew On 16 Sophie Germain 17 Women in Math: Fast Facts 18 Mental Illness 19 A Conversation with the Directors 20 Hyde Park, Chicago 21 Dear Diary 22 Missing Scene Improvisation 23 Quiz 24

Resources • STUDENT/Student Matinee Evaluation • TEACHER/Student Matinee Evaluation

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For Teachers The student matinee performance of Proof will be held on October 29, 2015 at 11:00 am, at the Mountain View Center for Performing Arts. The production is approximately 2 hours including a 15 minute intermission. The performance will be followed by a discussion with actors from the show.

Student audiences are often the most rewarding and demanding audiences that an acting ensemble can face. Since we hope every show at TheatreWorks will be a positive experience for both audience and cast, we ask you to familiarize your students with the theatre etiquette described on the following page.

How to use this Study Guide This guide is arranged in worksheets. Each worksheet or reading may be used independently or in conjunction with others to serve your educational goals. Together, the worksheets prepare students for the workshops, as well as seeing the student matinee of Proof produced by TheatreWorks, and for discussing the performance afterwards.

Throughout the guide you will see several symbols:

Means “Photocopy Me!” Pages with this symbol are meant to be photocopied and handed directly to students.

Means “English Language Arts.” Pages with this symbol feature lessons that are catered to California State English Language Arts standards.

Means “Theatre Arts.” Pages with this symbol feature lessons that are catered to California State Theatre Arts standards.

Means “Social Studies.” Pages with this symbol feature lessons that are catered to California State Social Studies standards.

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The Role of the Audience All the work that goes into a production would mean nothing if there wasn’t an audience for whom to perform. As the audience, you are also a part of the production, helping the actors onstage tell the story.

When the performance is about to begin, the lights will dim. This is a signal for the actors and the audience to put aside concerns and conversation and settle into the world of the play.

The performers expect the audience’s full attention and focus. Performance is a time to think inwardly, not a time to share your thoughts aloud. Talking to neighbors (even in whispers) carries easily to others in the audience and to the actors on stage. It is disruptive and distracting.

Food is not allowed in the theatre. Soda, candy, and other snacks are noisy and therefore distracting. Please keep these items on the bus or throw them away before you enter the audience area. Backpacks are also not allowed in the theatre.

Walking through the aisles during the performance is extremely disruptive. Actors occasionally use aisles and stairways as exits and entrances. The actors will notice any movement in the performance space. Please use the restroom and take care of all other concerns outside before the show.

Cell phones and other electronic devices must be turned off before the performance begins. Do not text during the performance, as it is distracting to the audience members around you.

What to bring with you: Introspection Curiosity Questions Respect An open mind What to leave behind: Judgments Cell phones, etc.

Backpacks Food Attitude

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Proof Plot Summary

Lance Gardner, Michelle Beck, & Ashley Bryant / Photo Kevin Berne

Act 1, Scene 1 “You knew what a prime number was before you could read.”

When the play opens, Catherine has just turned twenty-five.

It’s late at night, and we see her deep in conversation with her father, Robert. Robert is a great mathematician and a professor of math at the University of Chicago.

He urges her not to waste her incredible intelligence and ability to do mathematics. She’s been sleeping late, not eating well, wasting her days. They argue lovingly about her laziness and about his crazy behavior. We learn that Catherine has been taking care of her father.

He has brought her champagne to celebrate her birthday and the two take sips from the bottle. Suddenly, Robert vanishes, and we meet Hal, a twenty-eight year old graduate student of math who knew and loved Catherine’s father. He’s been going through the stacks of notebooks Robert left behind in the house, looking for anything of mathematical importance. We realize that Catherine has been talking to a figment of her imagination or has

been dreaming about her father, because Robert passed away the week before and his funeral is the next day. Hal asks Catherine to come to a bar where his band is performing, but Catherine declines. She accuses Hal of stealing notebooks and discovers that he has indeed snuck a notebook out of the house. As Catherine calls 911, Hal desperately explains that he was planning to wrap the notebook and give it to her as a present. He found an entry about her and thought she would love to have the notebook on her birthday. Hal leaves, and Catherine hears the sound of police sirens.

Act 1, Scene 2 “Well he’s been coming here to look at dad’s notebooks.”

The next day we meet Claire, Catherine’s twenty-nine year old sister from New York. Claire has arrived to help with the funeral and to check up on Catherine. She gives her younger sister new shampoo, invites her to Continues on the next page

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Plot Summary, continued New York for her wedding in January, and asks Catherine what she plans to do now that their father is dead.

Claire is worried about her sister. While Catherine was in the shower, the police came by to check on the house. Claire learns that her sister had called them the night before to report a robbery. Apparently, Catherine was “abusive” to the policemen when they responded to her call. Delicately, Claire asks Catherine about this incident, but Catherine dismisses her question, telling her that she thought Hal was stealing their dad’s notebooks and that the police were “assholes.” Claire asks if Hal is Catherine’s boyfriend, which she absolutely denies. Hal arrives to continue his work with the notebooks, and Claire introduces herself to him. As soon as he leaves the room, Claire urges Catherine to bring him a bagel and to flirt with him, but Catherine brushes her off.

Act 1, Scene 3 “I’d catch glimpses of you when you visited your dad’s office at school. I wanted to talk to you but I thought, No, you do not flirt with your doctoral adviser’s daughter.”

Later that night, we find Catherine on the porch of the house. The reception following the funeral has turned into a party of mathematics grad students and Claire’s friends from high school. The grad students are jamming, playing music in the living room—it is a lively party. Hal brings Catherine a beer and apologizes for sneaking a notebook out of the house. Catherine apologizes for calling the police and tells him he can take as long as he needs to go through the notebooks. She asks him if he knows any female mathematicians, and Hal calls the field a “young man’s game.” Catherine talks about a famous French mathematician named Sophie Germain, who had to publish her work under a man’s name in the 1700s. Hal realizes that Catherine knows a lot about math and is perhaps hiding just how brilliant she is.

They kiss and admit that they have both liked each other for a long, long time.

Act 1, Scene 4 “I didn’t find it. I wrote it.”

The next morning, Catherine sits on the porch alone.

Hal meets her there, and it is a little awkward because they have spent the night together. We learn that Claire is leaving today to return to New York. Hal tells Catherine that he wants to spend as much time as possible with her, and Catherine is happy. She gives him a key and tells him to go unlock a drawer in her dad’s desk. Claire arrives, hungover from the celebration the night before.

She asks Catherine to move with her to New York, permanently. Catherine is confused at first, but then is furious when she learns that Claire intends to sell the house. The two argue bitterly, and Catherine realizes that her sister has investigated mental hospitals and doctors for her. We learn that while Claire was able to finish college and have a life, Catherine was never able to go to college because she had to care for their father.

Just as the argument peaks, a stunned Hal returns with a notebook. In the desk drawer he has discovered a notebook with a proof that would revolutionize the field of mathematics and that would make Robert one of the most famous mathematicians of all time. Catherine states that she was the one who wrote the proof.

Act II, Scene 1 “I’m going to school.”

At the top of Act II, we flash back to September four years earlier. Robert sits on the porch dozing, a notebook nearby. Catherine tells him that she has decided to go to Northwestern University to study mathematics and that she is leaving at the end of the month. Robert is stunned and doesn’t understand why she didn’t discuss this decision with him. He teaches at the University of Chicago and wants her to study there with him, but Catherine tells him she wants to study in a different math department. Northwestern has offered her a full scholarship, and Claire is going to help support her too. Robert is shocked and angry, and when Hal arrives to discuss his thesis with Robert, he is caught in the middle of the argument. At the end of the scene, Continues on the next page

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Plot Summary, continued Robert realizes that it is Catherine’s birthday and that he had forgotten the date (something he never does).

Act II, Scene 2 “This is Dad’s handwriting.”

Now, we jump forward in time to the moment after Catherine declares to Claire and Hal that she wrote the proof. They do not believe her, and gently accuse her of pretending her father’s work is her own. Catherine is furious. Claire feels like the handwriting belongs to Robert, and Hal (who has spent hours studying Robert’s notebooks) also believes that the handwriting is Robert’s. They suggest that Hal submit the proof to the department for review, but Catherine refuses to let them take the notebook from her. The encounter ends bitterly as Catherine insults Hal and throws the notebook on the ground.

Act II, Scene 3 “You trust me with this?”

The next day Hal returns to apologize and try to talk to Catherine. Claire tells him to go away, because Catherine has locked herself in her room and won’t talk to anyone or eat anything. She gives Hal the notebook and tells him to call her in New York when he’s discovered what the proof means. Hal is surprised that Claire trusts him so completely.

Act II, Scene 4 “The gaps might make it hard to follow. We can talk it through.”

Three and a half years earlier. It’s winter, and Robert wears a t-shirt as he sits on his porch, writing in his notebook. Catherine arrives from Northwestern. She’s been calling her dad repeatedly trying to get ahold of him, but the phone just rings and rings. He tells her he’s been working nonstop for the last week and that he hasn’t felt so inspired and so energized in a long time.

Catherine reads through his notebook and realizes that it’s full of gibberish. She convinces him to come inside where it is warm.

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L. Peter Callender & Michelle Beck / Photo Kevin Berne

Act II, Scene 5 “Some nights I could connect three or four. Some nights they’d be really far apart, I’d have no idea how to get to the next one, if there was a next one.”

A week after Hal and Claire accuse Catherine of pretending her father’s proof is her own, the sisters prepare to leave the house for good and fly to New York. Claire tries to get Catherine excited about a life in New York, but Catherine is indifferent and quiet. It’s clear that Claire is really worried about Catherine and that Catherine hasn’t spoken to her in a week. They argue, and Claire leaves, throwing Catherine’s plane ticket on the table. Hal shows up looking worn out but excited. He tells Catherine that the proof checks out— it’s a huge deal. She’s still really mad at him for not believing that she wrote the book, but the two gradually reconcile. Hal suggests that she stay in Chicago and work with him on the proof. The two sit on the porch, and Catherine begins to explain the proof to him.

The end.

Understanding Plot: Sequencing Events The timeline of Proof is not straight forward. We jump in and out of the past and present in order to catch glimpses of what life was like with Robert. Read the plot summary and underline the 6 most important events in the story. Then number them 1–6 and assign them to a box. Draw a small picture of the event in the box and write a brief description.

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Create a Timeline Proof involves nine scenes that weave in and out of the present and the past. Using the space below, create a timeline of these nine scenes. Put them in chronological order.

1. _______________________________________________

Act I, Scene 1: Catherine’s 25th birthday. She celebrates with Robert’s ghost, and calls the cops when she discovers Hal has taken one of her father’s notebooks.

2. _______________________________________________

Act I, Scene 2: Claire arrives to help with funeral preparations, and to check up on Catherine.

Hal arrives, and Claire encourages Catherine to flirt with him.

3. _______________________________________________

Act I, Scene 3: The evening following Robert’s funeral, his students have gathered for a party in his honor. Catherine and Hal recall when they first met.

4. _______________________________________________

Act I, Scene 4: The morning after the funeral.

Catherine directs Hal to a notebook in Robert’s desk, containing an important proof. Catherine says she wrote it.

5. _______________________________________________

Act II, Scene 1: Catherine breaks the news to Robert that she’ll be starting school at Northwestern. Hal arrives and Robert introduces him to Catherine as one of his students.

6. _______________________________________________

Act II, Scene 2: Claire and Hal question whether Catherine really wrote the proof, and suggest having the math department study it. Catherine is insulted, and throws the notebook on the ground.

7. _______________________________________________

Act II, Scene 3: Hal comes to apologize to Catherine, but Claire says she’s refusing to see anyone. Claire gives Hal the notebook so he can examine the proof.

8. _______________________________________________

Act II, Scene 4: Catherine comes home from Northwestern to check on Robert. He says he’s been working again, but his notebook is full of nonsense.

9. _______________________________________________

Act II, Scene 5: Claire and Catherine are scheduled to leave together for New York, but they quarrel and Claire leaves alone. Hal arrives and tells Catherine he believes she wrote the proof.

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Cause and Effect in Proof Through Catherine’s conversations with Robert, Hal, and Claire, we begin to get a sense of why she has made the decisions she has made in her life (such as why she dropped out of college). Using the chart below, identify three to four major events in Catherine’s life and how they have lead her to where she is by the end of the play.

CAUSE

EFFECT

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fl

fl

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About the Play and Playwright David Auburn was born on November 30, 1969 in Chicago, Illinois. His early childhood was spent in Ohio, then in 1982 his family moved to Arkansas. His father was an academic who held both teaching and administrative positions at several universities.

After graduating high school, Auburn returned to the city of his birth to study Political Science at the University of Chicago. He began writing for and performing with the sketch comedy group Off-Off Campus, and immersed himself in Chicago’s vibrant theatre scene, writing reviews for the campus newspaper. He switched his major to English Literature, earing his bachelor’s degree in 1991.

Auburn then won a screenwriting fellowship, and spent a year in Hollywood working at Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin Entertainment. He then moved to New York, where he committed himself to a life in theatre.

Auburn described those early years in New York: "I founded a theatre company with friends, and we put on shows in tiny theatres, and I worked at boring jobs. I temped a lot." In addition to temping, Auburn was accepted into Julliard’s playwriting program.

It was at Juilliard that Auburn wrote his first full-length play, Skyscraper, which was produced off-Broadway in 1997. The reviews were mixed. The script was criticized for being too complex and the characters not fully developed—criticism that Auburn resolved to address in his next play. Though the production wasn’t a great success, it did catch the attention of the Manhattan Theatre Club. He was asked to show them his next work.

When his fiancée’s PhD research required that she move to London, Auburn quit his job and went with her.

It was in London that he penned the first draft of Proof.

Aiming for a more character-driven play, Auburn started out with two ideas—“One was to write about two sisters who are quarreling over the legacy of something left behind by their father. The other was about someone who knew that her parent had had problems of mental illness.” He decided to use mathematics as the backdrop for the play, recognizing in the math world “a competitive, eccentric, passionate subculture that’s inherently dramatic.”

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Though he himself was not a mathematician, Auburn had learned in college that he “could teach [himself] enough about a strange subject in order to say something about it—not necessarily as an expert, but to be able to participate in the conversation.” He attributes this “intellectual swagger” to his time at University of Chicago, which also serves as the setting for the play.

The first draft came quickly, followed by a long period of revisions. The Manhattan Theatre Club staged a reading of the script in April 1999, and immediately scheduled Proof for their next mainstage season. In the year between that first reading and the world premiere, Auburn took a job writing scripts for television documentaries, got married, and wrote another play.

He also won a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship and a Helen Merrill Playwriting Award.

Proof had its world premiere off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club in May 2000, starring MaryLouise Parker as Catherine. The production was a great success, and moved to Broadway that autumn. In 2001, Proof won the Drama Desk Award for Best New Play, the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, the New York Drama Critic’s Circle Best Play award, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the Tony Award for Best Play.

Continues on the next page

About the Play and Playwright, continued Proof enjoyed a three-year Broadway run, as well as a national tour. It became an instant hit in regional theatres—by 2002 it was the most-produced play in the United States. TheatreWorks was among the scores of companies mounting the play in the years following its Broadway triumph—our first staging of Proof was in 2003.

starring Gwyneth Paltrow, the 2006 romantic drama The Lake House with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, and the 2007 drama The Girl in the Park, which he also directed. When asked about his turn to screenwriting, Auburn said “I like working in as many modes as I can. I enjoy the variety. But I want the theatre to be the main place I belong. That’s where I get the most pleasure.”

After Proof, Auburn served as script consultant on the late Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…BOOM!, which opened off-Broadway in 2001 and had a national tour in 2003.

The Journals of Mihail Sebastian, Auburn’s one-man show about a Romanian novelist, debuted in 2004.

He did eventually turn his attention back to the theatre.

In 2012 Auburn’s The Columnist opened on Broadway— a new play about influential Vietnam-era journalist Joseph Alsop. Lost Lake, Auburn’s two-character play about a pair of strangers thrown together in a dilapidated vacation home, was staged off-Broadway in 2014.

Both were produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club.

In the following years, Auburn authored a number of screenplays, including the 2005 film adaptation of Proof

David Auburn at University of Chicago

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Proof of What Happens When You Just Let Go

By David Auburn, Los Angeles Times, June 4, 2002 Part of writing a play is letting it go. It's both exhilarating and a bit frightening when you turn your script over to the director and actors who will try to make it live. It's a risk—you hope you'll get lucky. With Proof, I did. But when I let this play go I had no idea how far it would travel.

The play has been done in London, Tokyo, Manila, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, and many other cities; the definitive New York production, directed by Daniel Sullivan, opens in Beverly Hills this week at the Wilshire Theatre.

Proof started with two ideas. One was about a pair of sisters: What if, after their father's death, they discovered something valuable left behind in his papers?

The other, more of a visual image than anything else, was about a young woman: I saw her sitting up alone, late at night, worried she might inherit her father's mental illness. While trying to see if these ideas fit together, I happened to be reading A Mathematician's Apology, the memoir by the great Cambridge mathematician G.H. Hardy. It's probably the most famous attempt to explain the pleasures of doing math to a non-mathematical audience. One passage particularly startled me.

"In a good proof," Hardy wrote, "there is a very high degree of unexpectedness, combined with inevitability and economy. The argument takes so odd and surprising a form; the weapons used seem so childishly simple when compared with the far-reaching consequences; but there is no escape from the conclusions."

That sounded like a definition of a good play, too. Math was alien territory to me—I had barely made it through freshman calculus in college—but I decided to set my story in Hardy's world. A mathematical proof became the "thing" the sisters find; my protagonist, Catherine, became convinced that she may have inherited her father's talent—he was a legendary mathematician—as well as his illness. With these elements in place, and feeling inspired by the meetings with the mathematicians I'd begun to have, I was able to finish a draft of the play quickly, in about six months.

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My first play, Skyscraper, had been commercially produced off-Broadway in 1997. Its run was short, but long enough for the literary staff at Manhattan Theater Club to catch a performance. They had invited me to submit my next play—a good break for me, since MTC is the best venue for new work in the city. I sent Proof to them. A few weeks later, it had a star, Mary-Louise Parker, a director, Daniel Sullivan, and an opening date for what I assumed would be a six-week run.

Proof has now been running for two years. In that time, I've often been surprised at the responses it has generated.

At a New York University conference on the play, a panel of women mathematicians used it to discuss questions of sexism and bias in their profession. After a performance on Broadway I got a note from an audience member backstage: "My daughter is just like Catherine," it said. "I can't communicate with her. Can you help me?"

In Chicago, a woman confronted me after a book signing.

She told me her father had been a mathematician who'd lost his mind and she'd spent her whole life caring for him. "This is the story of my life," she said. "How did you know?"

The answer, of course, is that I didn't, any more than I intended the play to speak directly to the concerns of female academics, or could tell a stranger how to break through to his daughter. When you let a play go, you also take the risk that it will take on associations for people that you didn't intend and can't account for.

That risk is the prerogative of art, however, and of the theater in particular. The theater affects us more directly, and unpredictably, than any of the other arts, because the actors are right there in front of us, creating something new every night. Something, as Hardy might put it, "Unexpected and inevitable." Which makes it all worth the risk.

What Is a Proof?

A mathematical proof is an argument that convinces other people that something is true. It requires a series of steps using statements, theorems, logic, and axioms, and no steps can be left out. A mathematician’s goal is to better understand the rules and systems of numbers, geometry, and algebra and come up with new ways of approaching these rules and systems. As mathematicians study rules they come up with conjectures—ideas that are believed to be true but have not been proven.

What’s in a Proof?

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Statements: Sentences that are either true or false (but not both)

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Logic: Mathematical operations that combine or alter statements using building blocks like “and,” “or,” “not,” and “if…then”

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Theorems: Mathematical statements that have been proven to be true

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Axioms: Statements that are known to be true and that do not need to be proved

In 1859, German mathematician Bernhard Riemann published a deep mathematical conjecture that mathematicians have been trying to prove ever since.

“The Riemann hypothesis asserts that all interesting solutions of the equation ζ(s)= 0 lie on a certain vertical straight line” –Clay Mathematics Institute A proof of the Riemann Hypothesis would radically change the math world because it would prove the above statement is true, not just a conjecture.

Although we never find out what proof Catherine solves, some have suggested it may be Riemann’s Hypothesis.

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Questions to Chew On Why do you think Robert is so hesitant to let Catherine go to Northwestern? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Are Hal’s motives pure? Does he simply want to make sure that Robert’s discoveries are recorded by the math community, or does he want to steal a proof and claim it as his own? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Is Catherine sick? Do you think she is really the author of the proof? Why or why not? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Does Claire really care about Catherine, or is she more interested in selling the house and freeing herself of obligation? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What is the relationship between genius and insanity in this story? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ We’ve talked a little bit about what a proof is in mathematical terms. Think about what else the word proof can mean in the world of this play. Are certain characters looking for proof or to prove themselves? If so, what are they looking for and why are they looking for it? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What do you think Catherine decides to do with her life? Do you think she remains in Chicago with Hal? Do you think she moves to New York? Why or why not? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What role do the flashbacks play in this story? Do they reveal more about Catherine or about Robert? Are the flashbacks from Catherine’s perspective? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Why do you think David Auburn ended the play in the way that he does? How did this ending make you feel? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Sophie Germain Catherine talks about Marie-Sophie Germain, a famous French mathematician and one of the first women to ever affect the world of mathematics, who became a pioneer of “elastic theory.”

Marie-Sophie was born April 1, 1776 in Paris, France.

Because aristocratic women were not allowed to seek a real education, Sophie learned all she could learn from the books in her father’s study. But it wasn’t easy.

Preferring her to marry and conduct herself in a more “ladylike” way, Marie-Sophie’s parents tried everything to keep her from studying. They took the candles from her room and left her fire unlit at night, so that she would be cold and unable to see. She persevered by smuggling candles and quilts, secretly working late into the night.

Marie-Sophie first encountered math when she was 13 years old. The French Revolution (also known as The Terror) was raging in the streets of Paris, and Sophie spent all of her time indoors. Her parents eventually relented and allowed her to pursue her mathematical studies independently. When she was 18, the École Polytechnique, a cutting-edge scientific university, opened in Paris. Women were unable to attend the university, but Marie-Sophie could request lecture notes to supplement her independent study. She then began to take classes under a former student’s name, M. Antoine-August LeBlanc. Her work was so extraordinary that her professor, Joseph-Louis Lagrange, summoned “LeBlanc” to his office, and Marie-Sophie’s true identity was revealed. Lagrange became her mentor.

Marie-Sophie Germain died in June of 1831 after a battle with breast cancer. The German mathematician and her collaborator, Carl Friedrich Gauss, convinced the University of Göttingen to award her an honorary degree, but she passed away before she could receive it.

“She was trapped in her house. The French Revolution was going on, The Terror. She had to stay inside for safety, and she passed the time reading in her father’s study. The Greeks…

Later she tried to get a real education but the schools didn’t allow women. So she wrote letters. She wrote to Gauss. She used a man’s name. Uh, “Antoine-August Le Blanc.” She sent him some proofs involving a certain kind of prime number, important work. He was delighted to correspond with such a brilliant young man.”

–Catherine, speaking of Sophie Germain, in Proof

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Women in Math: Fast Facts • Today women make up nearly half of all undergraduate math majors, and only slightly less than half of math Master’s students.

• In 1966, only 6% of all mathematics doctorates were awarded to women. By 2006, the percentage had increased to 33%.

• Women are more likely to use their math major in the fields of education or healthcare than to pursue a career either in STEM fields or in academia with their mathematics degree.

• Only 19% of mathematics positions in academia are held by women.

• Starting in elementary school and throughout high school, boys score higher on standardized tests in mathematics than girls do. The reasons for this difference are hotly contested among researchers.

• One of the most often-cited reasons for the difference in testing scores is “stereotype threat,” or the tacit effect of the stereotype that “boys are better than girls at math” on girls taking math tests, leading them to doubt themselves or to perform worse than they potentially could.

• Stereotype threat is a self-confirming belief that one may be evaluated based on a negative stereotype. Because of stereotype threat, students who are reminded of negative stereotypes about their race or gender before taking a test perform worse on those tests, especially if the negative stereotype is one that makes them feel academically inferior.

The anxiety of confirming a negative stereotype seems to be the driving force behind stereotype threat. That anxiety causes testers to perform worse than they would have otherwise. Stereotype threat is a reminder of how social forces can influence test scores, including intelligence scores.

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Mental Illness We are never told what form of mental illness Robert suffers from, but many of his symptoms suggest he may suffer from schizophrenia. Schizophrenia tends to develop in the late teens and can involve hallucinations, disordered thinking, and a withdrawal from society.

People with schizophrenia often are able to make bizarre and surprising connections between ideas, and they are often afflicted with paranoia.

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Mental illnesses are medical conditions that affect a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others, and daily functioning.

People with mental illnesses often have difficulty coping with the everyday demands of life.

Examples of mental illnesses are: major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and borderline personality disorder (among many others).

Mental illnesses can affect people of any age, race, religion, or income. Many people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan.

In addition to medication, treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), interpersonal therapy, peer support groups and other community services can also assist with recovery.

Some people believe that creative genius and mental illness are connected. Below are just a few famous mathematicians, artists, musicians, and writers who may have suffered from various forms of mental illness.

John Nash who features in the film A Beautiful Mind, was a brilliant mathematician and contributed significantly to game theory. He also struggled with paranoid schizophrenia.

Vincent Van Gogh was one of the world’s greatest painters and is famous for cutting off his own ear, drinking turpentine, and other odd behaviors leading up to his death by suicide.

Ludwig van Beethoven, the famous composer, had an abusive childhood and slowly went deaf in his adult life. His letters to family members indicate a struggle with depression.

Edgar Allan Poe, the famous author, was an alcoholic who was haunted by thoughts of suicide. Modern scholars believe he may have been bipolar.

Ernest Hemingway, who won the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1952 and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954, struggled with a drinking problem and suicidal depression.

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A Conversation with the Directors Why is Proof relevant to today’s Silicon Valley audience?

Director Leslie Martinson: There’s this phrase that describes the academic fields of science: “the STEM fields.” It stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The phrase that I’m fond of is STEAM—for the power created when “Art” is added.

We explore the way those other fields work through the arts. This play is about a young woman who is underestimated by everyone except her father, and now her father is not around. She knows what she knows, including her own worth, and that’s still not enough. At some point you do need validation and support from the people around you. I think the notion of being under too much pressure is rampant in Silicon Valley.

Assistant Director Jeffrey Lo: I think this is also a play that explores the difficulties of being a woman in a male-dominated field.

Martinson: I know what you mean, but I guess I have trouble calling it a “male-dominated field.” The field, mathematics, and the ideas have no gender. I remember in my high school calculus class being told by my teacher that I had “the highest grade of the girls.”

This is math! Your grade is your grade! That teacher believed that he was telling me I did as well as could be expected, given that I was a girl. In Catherine’s case, she just gets ignored. The cultural bias, both about her gender, and about her schooling, is such that she simply gets neglected and ignored.

This production of Proof features a cast of African American actors. How did that come about?

Martinson: Well, part of our mission here at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is to create theatre that looks like the Bay Area. In any case, in casting, the first person to come to mind to play Robert was L. Peter Callender, with whom I had worked on our production of Radio Golf. He’s a tremendous actor with just the right combination of genius and madness. L. Peter is an African American actor, so we cast an African American family around him, which fits well with the Chicago setting of the play, and adds some layers to our production.

We’re already watching Catherine face the challenges

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of a young, American woman working in mathematics.

As a young, black, American woman, there’s another set of cultural norms and expectations to negotiate her way through as well. It also suggests a back-story about why Hal, the doctoral student, has such strong loyalty to his mentor, Robert. While the University of Chicago has a long history of admission and recognition of AfricanAmerican scholars, we can still imagine that a young man of color might find only a few role models in his department.

Why should young people see this play?

Lo: The play is very accessible to people of all ages.

At different points in your life, the relationships between the characters in this play will mean something completely different to you. There’s a really compelling look at the relationship between two sisters. In addition, there is a romantic relationship that I find really funny, a father-daughter relationship, as well as a mentor-pupil relationship. I think it explores a lot of relationships that younger folks will connect with, but also feel as though they’re getting a peek into another world that they’re not a part of.

Martinson: Everyone should come see this play because it’s brilliant. There are three characters in their twenties and it’s unusual to have a play with three strong characters in their twenties. Catherine, Hal, and Claire know who they are, they know what they’re doing, and it’s still tricky! They still run into trouble. I think that young audience members will relate to this.

It is funny, illuminating, and brilliant at the same time, so come!

Hyde Park, Chicago Proof is set in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. This historic and beautiful neighborhood enjoys a lakefront location and is home to the University of Chicago (where the character Robert teaches), Washington Park, and President Obama’s family residence. The neighborhood began in the 1850s and was originally a suburb of Chicago.

University of Chicago: Fast Facts

In 1893 the Hyde Park area hosted the World’s Columbian Exposition, a giant world fair that put the city of Chicago on the map as a center of innovation and design. The first ferris wheel was introduced at this particular world fair. During the 1940s and 1950s, Hyde Park was a major musical hub, a jazz center.

• The University of Chicago has produced 89 Nobel Laureates

According to the 2010 census, Hyde Park’s residents are 47% Caucasian, 31% African American, 12% Asian, and 6% Hispanic.

• The campus is composed of 217 acres and was designated a botanic garden in 1997.

• The University of Chicago was founded in 1890

by John D. Rockefeller • In 2015, it was ranked #9 in the US News & World Report: Best Global Universities

• On December 2, 1942, the first manmade nuclear chain reaction occurred at the University of Chicago

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Dear Diary Each of the four characters in Proof have very unique perspectives and very different relationships to our protagonist, Catherine. Choose one character to explore and write a one to two page diary entry from his/her perspective. Be sure to note when exactly your character is writing this entry. What has just happened? What does this character know?

What does this character not yet know? What does this character dream about? What is this character most afraid of?

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x

Missing Scene Improvisation There are chunks of time missing from Proof that we hear about but never get to see. Working in groups of 3 or 4, choose a “missing� scene from the play and spend 15 minutes improvising what that scene would be like.

Next, take the improvisation work you and your group have done and put it on paper. Write the scene down. Designate one person in your group as the director, one person as the designer, and two people as the actors. Make the scene happen.

Set model by Scenic Designer Annie Smart

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Quiz 1. The play opens on a day that is important to Catherine. Why is it important?

2. What does Robert give to Catherine?

3. What is Robert’s advice for Catherine?

4. How old was Robert when he got sick?

5. Of what did Robert die?

6. What has Hal been doing in Catherine’s house?

7. Where does Hal invite Catherine?

8. How does Hal feel about Catherine’s father?

9. What does Catherine accuse Hal of doing?

10. How does Catherine describe her father during his insanity?

11. What was Hal going to do with the notebook that Catherine finds in his coat?

12. What does Claire invite Catherine to do in January?

13. How would you describe Robert’s funeral?

14. What famous French mathematician does Catherine tell Hal about?

15. What does Claire want to do with her father’s house?

16. When Catherine gives Hal a key to her father’s desk, what does he find?

17. In Catherine’s flashback, what does Robert say he enjoys at this time of the year?

18. At the end of her argument with Hal and Claire, what does Catherine try to do with the notebook?

19. In her flashback, what does Catherine read in Robert’s notebook when she visits him that winter?

20. How does Catherine feel about her potential life in New York?

21. What does Claire believe Catherine can’t do?

22. What does Catherine say writing the proof was like?

23. Why does Hal believe that Catherine wrote the proof?

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Student Matinees/STUDENT Feedback Name____________________________________Grade_____________School_________________________________________ Performance Tasks based on CA State theatre arts standards Select and complete one of the following activities:

1.

Rewrite the ending of the play. How would you like to see it end? Why?

2.

Pick a moment in the play that affected you. Describe the stage elements that created that moment for you (the script, acting, lighting, music, costumes, set design, sound design and/or direction).

3.

Write a review of the play or an actor.

4.

Describe something you would change in the production. Describe what benefit that change would create in the production and why.

5.

Identify and describe how this production might affect the values and behavior of the audience members who have seen it.

6.

Write about any careers you learned about in attending this production (example: stage hands, set designers, actors, etc.).

Assessment Survey No

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STUDENT evaluation (cont)

Finish the following statements: The most important thing I learned from this play was: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Besides getting out of school, the best thing about attending this student matinee is: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Learning through the theatre is different from my regular class because: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ If I could change something about attending a student matinee, I would: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I'm going to use what I learned, saw, or experienced by: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Student Matinee/TEACHER Evaluation Name_____________________________________________________________________School___________________________

Please rate your Student Matinee experience below:

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Agree

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TheatreWorks maintained communication with me and/or involved administrators at my school

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It was clear to me that the production and study guide incorporated curriculum standards

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Planning I received sufficient and timely information from TheatreWorks before the matinee

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Matinee Workshops Supported other curriculum areas/subjects

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Targeted students' educational needs

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Provided a grade-appropriate experience

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Engaged students' interest and attention

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I would like to learn how to lead more of these kinds of activities on my own in the classroom

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Strongly Disagree Post-Matinee Students were engaged in this experience

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The experience was valuable to my students' education

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The "Performance Tasks" were useful in helping my students understand their experience

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I would be interested in bringing more drama related activities into my classroom

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TEACHER Evaluation (cont) For your classrooms please list the strengths of watching a student matinee. _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ In terms of your teaching, did this particular Student Matinee give you any arts integration ideas for your curriculum? _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ We are very interested in your feedback. What worked for you about this experience? _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ What did not work for you? _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Additional Comments: _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ TheatreWorks student matinees tend to fill up quickly. Tickets for the 2015/16 season are available now— please visit theatreworks.org for the most up-to-date information. Please keep us updated with your current contact information to receive show announcements and booking information. Also, let us know if you have friends who would like to be added to our mailing lists!