‘Proof’

Director’s Statement

A question I repeatedly asked myself while directing this show is, “Are we confined to our circumstances or do we have a choice in what happens to us?” Throughout the show Catherine does everything she can to be her own person, but her story is dictated by everyone around her. She is faced with the potential inheritance of both her father’s illness and his talent, while being confined by who Claire wants her to be and who Hal thinks she can’t be. Catherine not only struggles to find her own agency, but also proves that to herself and everyone around her. This show leaves a lot of questions unanswered, and in that way it makes you answer that question, “agency or complacency?” 

This show blurs the lines between what is reality, imagination, dream, hallucination, and memory. Along these lines, Catherine’s characterization through mental illness and depression is a very poignant depiction. It puts you in the shoes of Catherine where the past five years of her life have blended together, so when you’re asking yourself, “is this real? when did this occur?” Catherine is likely asking herself that too. It paints a picture of dissociative disorder/psychosis and helps you understand how making your way through normal situations can be more difficult with an uncertainty of reality.

- Bristol Barnes