Award-winning play at CSC this weekend

The story centers around Catherine, a 25-year-old unrefined woman who sacrificed attending college to care for her father, Robert, once a brilliant, much-admired mathematician who is slightly insane.

Played by Crystal Neitzel of Gregory, S.D., Catherine is left in limbo after her father’s death. She is gruff with Hal, one of her father’s former students who shows up even before the funeral wanting to root through the countless notebooks her father kept, hoping to find mathematical gold.

Hal is portrayed by Alex Schwarz of Bertrand. Dan Giffee of Dawson is cast as Robert, who appears early in the production.

Another leading character is Claire, Catherine's cosmopolitan, blandly successful and pushy sister who arrives from New York after learning of their father’s death.

Claire, played by Erika DeBoer of Morrill, plans to sell the family home and take Catherine, whom she's convinced has inherited a touch of their father's mental illness, with her to New York.

Catherine doesn’t want to leave, and things become more complicated when she and Hal develop a relationship. The story becomes more intriguing when Catherine gives Hal the key to the drawer containing the notebooks that are filled with the most original and astonishing mathematical proof Hal has seen in years.

There’s a surprise over who really devised the theories that Hal finds.

“Proof” was written by David Auburn. Chadron State theatre professors Roger Mays and Scott Cavin are serving as the production director and lighting coordinator, respectively. The stage was designed by CSC senior Adam Spencer of Grand Island while freshman Clint Wright of Oshkosh is the stage manager.

Tickets may be obtained through the Memorial Hall box office, which is open from 2 to 5 p.m. each weekday or by calling 432-6360. They are $6 for adults and $3 for senior citizens and youths through age 18. There is no admission charge for CSC personnel if the tickets are obtained in advance.

Photo Information:

The cast members and two members of the technical crew for “Proof” gather on the steps of the set that was designed by Chadron State senior Adam Spencer. In front are Crystal Neitzel and Dan Giffee. In the back are Erika DeBoer, Alex Schwarz, stage manager Clint Wright and assistant stage manager Shelley Fiester. The play will be presented the weekend. It is set in the backyard of the family home in Chicago.