It’s not hard to prove that “Proof ” will be a hit. The play, directed by senior Lindsay Chyna, will be performed in Studio 200 at Oak Park and River Forest High School on Feb. 14, 15 and 16 at 7 p.m.
“Proof,” written by David Auburn, is the story of a young woman, Catherine, as she deals with the passing of her math- ematician father, Robert. Catherine, her friend Claire and her love interest Hal explore ideas of grief, sexism, mental illness and human relationships as another mystery is revealed: Robert’s famous discovery was actually the work of Catherine.
In OPRF’s production, Catherine will be played by sophomore Guinnevere Neville, Claire will be played by sopho- more Lucille Hahs, Hal will be played by junior Desmond Murphy and Robert will be played by junior Blessing Simon-Ohia.
Chyna’s directing experience began with the directing course at OPRF last year, culminating in a scene from “Steel Magnolias” by Robert Harding performed by OPRF actors under her direction. After developing a strong interest in directing, she decided to become the assistant director of “Hamlet” at OPRF in March 2023. Her passion then drove her to apply for a Studio 200 spot. Studio 200 is a program that allows four seniors to direct their own show each year.
Chyna’s staff consists of assistant director Alexandra Robinson Bellin, stage manager Ren Goodfriend and assistant stage manager Kiara Behensky.
Science teacher Peter Vishneski oversees rehearsals as the teacher sponsor: “I love getting to see a student senior director put together a show,” he said. “This stuff is pretty much just run by the students.”
Vishneski was an avid performer during his four years as a student at OPRF. He even took on the role of Professor X in “X-Men Mad Avenue,” a musical performed last spring.
Neville, who has been gearing up for the role of Catherine, is not new to OPRF Theater. She performed in “X-Men Mad Avenue” as well as “Sunflowers” in Studio 200 during autumn of 2023. She describes her most recent character Catherine as, “pretty stubborn and afraid of change…I definitely have to act more closed off than I usually do.”
Thankfully, Neville has lots of sup- port to help her embody her role. The small size of the cast cultivates a strong sense of community between the actors and crew. Furthermore, it facilitates a deeper understanding of the play as a whole. Vishneski said, “Because there’s so few of them, they can actually take apart each scene one by one.”
During the auditions on Jan. 8 to 10, Neville commended Chyna’s freestyle approach to directing. “She would give us a little bit of direction and then let us kind of fill in the rest with our own choices just to see how we would play the character authentically, and I think that was really cool,” said Neville.
“I think I’ve got a good balance between deciding on my vision for the show, and also giving the actors some creative freedom as well,” Chyna added.
Studio 200 gives student directors the unique opportunity to choose the play they want to work through, and many directors have a personal connection to the plays they pick. Chyna, for one, scoured over the library’s script collection until landing upon “Proof.”
“There’s often shows that you’ll see where they will joke about mental health, or it’s kind of seen as a caricature. “Proof ” doesn’t do that at all, which I love. And it also shows the universal experience of not being believed as a woman,” said Chyna.
“It’s a little bit of a mystery as well. A lot of it is connecting with how the characters deal with grief. I think is the main focus of it,” added Vishneski.
A typical day of rehearsal begins with warmups, followed by scene blocking. “But once we get further in the process, we’re gonna be able to focus more on the actual acting choices. So yeah, the process is going to kind of change as we go, but I’m really looking forward to seeing the end product,” said Chyna.
