Firebelly's Latest Shows Surprising Depth of Characters

Daniel Eichner and Katy Carkuff star in Firebelly Productions' "Proof," now on stage at Theatre on the Run in Arlington. (Photo by Raymond Gniewek)

Mention higher mathematics and most mediocre students and math-challenged adults will wince and duck for cover.

So Firebelly Productions' latest play, David Auburn's Pulitzer-Prize-winning “Proof,” comes as quite a pleasant surprise. More about relationships than math, it's a witty, knowing look at mental fragility and dysfunctional family life.

Set in Chicago, the story opens with a middle-aged man, Robert (Don Kenefick), wishing his listless daughter Catherine (Katy Carkuff) a happy 25th birthday.

An isolated and friendless college dropout, Catherine doesn't take well to his well-meant prodding about her future. Her sanity is thrown into doubt once it's revealed that her father, a mathematical genius, actually died a week earlier.

Robert gradually lost his mind in his final years and Catherine worries she'll succumb to the same fate.

One of Robert's doctoral students, Hal (Daniel Eichner), pores over stacks of his mentor's notebooks, prospecting for nuggets of brilliance in a mountain of incoherent ramblings. Catherine suspects, rightly, that Harold has ulterior motives, but the pair soon find common cause.

Enter Catherine's despised sister, Claire (K. Clare Johnson), who was absent during their father's final years but conveniently able to jet in from New York to manage his estate.

Claire is a hard-hearted weasel, who reveals her character in the first few seconds by tossing litter over the family's backyard fence. Manipulative and coercive, she blunders into Catherine's life right when she needs peace and consolation.

When Harold discovers an astounding mathematical proof in one of Robert's old notebooks, it's up to Catherine to prove its authorship and significance.

The four cast members shine individually and provoke strong emotions from one another.

Carkuff's Catherine embodies well the tendencies often associated with highly gifted people. She's capable of tenderness and humility, but bursts with indignation and rage at the slightest provocation.

As Hal, Eichner supplies the right amount of earnestness, intensity and compassion. He's just the person to bring Catherine back from the brink of madness.

Although his appearances are brief, Kenefick generates a lot of sympathy and goodwill as Robert. He's the kind of father everyone would wish have: wise, accomplished, quick-witted, firm but fair, and free with his whiskey.

Director Ali Miller gets strong performances from the cast and maintains audience interest, despite an overlong, 15-minute intermission.

If not for its strong language, “Proof” would be family fare. The play well captures the uneasiness and pain that mental illness wreaks on its victims and their loved ones.

“Proof” runs through Nov. 19 at Theatre on the Run, 3700 S. Four Mile Run Drive in Arlington.

Performances are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 to $15. For information, call (703) 409-2372.