Tony Award-winning play 'Proof' coming to Washington and Lee University

Courtesy of Broken Fourth

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If You Go

What: “Proof” by David Auburn.
Where: Stackhouse Theatre, Elrod Commons, Washington and Lee University.
When: 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday.
How much: $10, senior citizens and students $5, tickets sold at the door.

Mike Allen | 981-3236

Friday, August 9, 2013

An independent theater troupe is bringing the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play “Proof” to Washington and Lee University .

The performance in the Stackhouse Theatre in the Lexington university’s Elrod Commons is being put on by Broken Fourth. The Lexington-based group’s name is a reference to the “fourth wall” concept in theater that imagines the audience is looking in at the actors on stage through an invisible wall.

The intimate play by David Auburn features four characters. Former Theater at Lime Kiln executive director Kim Renz plays Robert, a mathematical genius overcome by mental illness who has recently died. Amy Oblinger, a former assistant director for the Virginia Military Institute’s theater program, plays Catherine, Robert’s daughter, who was his caregiver in the last years of his life.

In an interesting bit of casting echoing life, Oblinger’s sister, Emily Oblinger, portrays Catherine’s sister Claire, who moved away but returns for Robert’s funeral. Broken Fourth founder and artistic director Richard Templeman plays Hal, a former student of Robert’s, who believes there may be valuable undiscovered work in the late teacher’s unpublished papers.

Mary-Louise Parker, the star of Showtime’s “Weeds,” won the 2001 Tony Award for best actress for her portrayal of Catherine in the play’s 2000 Broadway run.

Monday, August 12, 2013