Concept

Proof is a compelling and emotionally nuanced play centered on Catherine, a young woman grappling with the legacy of her brilliant but mentally ill father. The story explores themes of inherited genius and instability, the emotional weight of caregiving, and the challenges faced by women in male-dominated fields. The play’s depth and complexity made it an ideal choice for a capstone production, and I was thrilled by the opportunity to both produce and contribute creatively through acting and design.

As the Lead Designer of this production, I have worked very closely with the show’s director and my mentor on the project, Professor Leah Page, to design the set, lights, and costumes in this production. For the costumes, Professor Page and I wanted to properly capture the time period that the play takes place in, the early 2000’s, so I consulted the theatre Department’s Costume Designer, Professor Elaina Wahl-Temple, created image banks and renderings for Professor Page to look at, and then I went with my cast to purchase the costumes.

As set designer, I worked very closely with the director to ensure that there were enough “acting areas” to allow for dynamic staging on set. I then met with Professor Shawn Fisher for advice on how to draft and render the set, at which point I could take the ground plan and renderings to the Theatre Department’s Technical Director, Britton Corry (who also happened to be a member of our cast). He helped me to determine the best way to build the set as well as how much it would cost.

As the lighting designer, I needed to make the actors visible on stage, enhance the environmental aspects of the show (such as weather or time of day), and I wanted to abstract the themes of the play in some way. I was able to accomplish this with oversight from Professor Patrick Mathis and a peer, Tracy Lukach, who helped by designing and programming the projections in the play.