SCT unveils “Proof” on March 29
“Proof” lead Julia Runcie
Three thousand miles away, a Harvard graduate is creating Linsanity in New York City. His name is Jeremy Lin, and he plays point guard for the New York Knicks.
Beginning March 29, three local Harvard grads will merely present a little Insanity as Sierra Classic Theatre stages David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Proof” at the Edison Theatre in Mammoth Lakes.
If merely was the operative word.
The four-person cast, directed by Alison McDonnell Page, was selected before Christmas to give the actors extra time to learn their lines.
Page, who originally saw the play on Broadway, describes it as “brilliant.” She said the material asks a lot of both the cast and audience. “This is about real people and serious subject matter, but there are comedic moments,” she says. “These are not one-note characters. There is conflict … and mystery.”
“Since Sierra Classic Theatre traditionally does the summer Shakespeare as well as the Murder Mystery Dinners in the fall, we wanted to do a drama … People have told me that we’re not going to sell tickets, that people don’t know this play and won’t recognize the name. But I’m hoping people will come just because they want to see something new.”
Rick Phelps will play the father, a mathematics genius gone insane.
Julia Runcie is the daughter who dropped out of school to take care of him. She doesn’t quite know how much of the genius, or insanity, she’s inherited.
Morgan Lindsay plays the older sister, an executive-type who’s been paying the bills.
Jody Ecklund, plays the love interest, a man who studied math in college who is now assigned to pore through the father’s journals to see if there are any ideas in there worth salvaging.
Page and Runcie graduated from Harvard undergrad. Phelps went to the Business School.
As Page says, “The goal is to have people leave the theater talking about it and thinking about it … We have the talent to do this type of theatre here.”
Sierra Classic Theatre is looking for volunteers (ushers, et. al.) to help out with the production. Visit www.sierraclassictheatre.com if you’re interested.
The play will run from March 29-April 14. Shows are at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. All seats $15, except for a $10 opening night special.
Edison Theatre is located off Meridian Blvd. on College Parkway on the Cerro Coso College campus.
