Court Theatre to Stage PROOF, 3/7-4/7

Court Theatre Artistic Director Charles Newell and Executive Director Stephen J. Albert present Proof written by David Auburn, and directed by Charles Newell. Proof will run March 7 - April 7, 2013 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue. Press Opening is Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 8:00PM.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning play set in Hyde Park "comes home" to Court Theatre in an inspired new production directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell. Genius mathematician and University of Chicago professor Robert Is struggling with mental illness, leaving his fiercely brilliant yet emotionally fragile daughter Catherine to pick up the pieces of her life. Caught between a new-found connection with one of Robert's former students and the reappearance of her sister, Claire, Catherine's world becomes increasingly unstable. As she struggles to find herself amid her father's world of tantalizing secrets and hidden complexities, she is forced to face the possibility of inheriting both her father's creative genius and his terrifying mental illness.

"I've long admired David Auburn's Proof, but when I recently revisited the play, I was completely blown away by a dimension of the text I had not previously experienced," says Charles Newell. "Having recently lost a parent, Proof suddenly resonated with me as a story about an individual whose grief--painful as it may be--allows her to grow beyond her father and to finally claim her own life's work. In order to reflect this new psychological approach to the text, we've abstracted much of the design and staging, making this production of Proof unlike anything anyone has ever seen before. I'm thrilled that Mr. Auburn has granted us the opportunity to produce his brilliant masterpiece and to bring it home to its native setting of Hyde Park and the University of Chicago."

The cast of Proof includes Chaon Cross (Catherine), Kevin Gudahl (Robert), Megan Kohl (Claire), and Erik Hellman (Hal).

The creative team includes Martin Andrew (scenic design), Rachel Laritz (costume design), Keith Parham (lighting design), Andre Pluess (sound design), John Boller (dramaturgy). Sara Gammage is the Stage Manager.

Charles Newell (Artistic Director/Director) has been Artistic Director of Court Theatre since 1994, where he has directed over 30 productions. He made his Chicago directorial debut in 1993 with The Triumph of Love, which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Production. Directorial highlights at Court include James Joyce's "The Dead," Angels in America, An Iliad, Porgy and Bess, Three Tall Women, The Year of Magical Thinking, The Wild Duck, Caroline, Or Change, Titus Andronicus, Arcadia, Man of La Mancha, Uncle Vanya, Raisin, The Glass Menagerie, Travesties, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Hamlet, and The Invention of Love. Charlie has also directed at the Goodman Theatre (Rock 'n' Roll), the Guthrie Theater (Resident Director: The History Cycle, Cymbeline), Arena Stage, John Houseman's The Acting Company (Staff Repertory Director), the California and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals, Juilliard, and New York University. He is the recipient of the 1992 TCG Alan Schneider Director Award. He has served on the Board of Theatre Communications Group, as well as on several panels for the National Endowment for the Arts. Opera directing credits include Marc Blitzstein's Regina at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Rigoletto at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Charlie is a multiple Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago's highest theatrical honor) nominee and recipient.

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