Intentions:

1. What might be your playwright’s intentions?
   1. “Since I also had this idea about someone who was worried that they would inheriting their parent’s mental illness, I kind of went looking for the thing that the sisters would find, and it seemed to me that a scientific document or a mathematical document could be really interesting. I thought – you know — its authorship could be called into question in some interesting ways and the historical fact that a number of famous mathematicians have suffered from mental illness kind of gave me the bridge to the other idea about someone worried about their own mental state. So it just seemed to fit the story that I wanted to tell.
      

                    (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media-jan-june01-auburn_04-20/)

1. What do you want to focus on?
   1. I want to focus on the varying relationships that we share with those around us, and how the arrangement of the hierarchy of these relationships can affect our mental state and enjoyment of life.
2. What do you want to show?
   1. I want to show the consequences of how you arrange the relationships in your life. Whether it be family before friends or vice versa, or wealth, etc. I want to show both pain/heartache and also joy/love in correspondence to these consequences.
3. What do you want to say?
   1. I want to say that while every person has to adapt to their changing lives, they also have to change the importance that lies with their relationships. If you dwell too much on a dead connection, it can leave you in pieces and hurt.
4. What is the play going to be about?
   1. The play is going to be about how a young woman discovers who she is through a series of events that will determine her future. The audience will also learn from her experiences as she moves through them.
5. Who is your audience?
   1. My audience ranges from young adults who are about to begin on the journey to adulthood to seniors who want to reflect on the decisions they have made or are looking for advice for life. All ages, really.
6. Where will you stage this?
   1. I will stage this in the backyard of a house with a bench, a trellis overhead, and surrounded by plants in a garden. I want the changing seasons to make a notable effect on the scenery of the stage and the interaction between characters.

Impact:

1. What sort of impact do you want to have on an audience?
   1. I want my audience to have a revelation regarding who they care about and the people they choose to invest their time in. I think that I want to emphasize with the death of Robert the impending death of everyone, and how our lives are short, so our time is valuable. Going off of this, we need to enjoy our lives to the fullest extent and make decisions that will affect our lives positively.
2. What do you want them to feel?
   1. I want them to feel the emotions that come with making both good and bad decisions. By letting them experience the sentiments of these choices, they are given a better perspective on what they choose to do.
3. What do you want them to think?
   1. I want them to reflect more upon their relationships with others, and how they impact themselves, others, and their futures.
4. How should they leave the experience?
   1. They should leave the experience with a better sense of self and awareness of their lives and their place in the world.
5. What do you want to remain with them?
   1. I want the morals behind relationships to remain with them. Social interaction is the biggest part of my play, and I want the lessons of time and happiness to resonate with my audience and make a meaningful impact on them that they can take away.

Gut Analysis:

1. Proof is the story of a girl who faces conflict regarding her father’s mathematical work and moving on with her life after his death.
2. Proof is a play about the love between family members and how it can mend all bonds and conquer all challenges.
3. 
   
   1. Characters: Catherine (twenty-five), Robert (fifties), Claire (twenty-nine), Hal (twenty-eight)
   2. Location: Back porch of a house in the university district at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois
   3. Transitions are usually from day to day, but also consist of flashbacks during dreams back to when Catherine was a little girl 

i.Facts:

1. Catherine’s birthday (twenty-fifth), Hal is a student of Robert and attends NU, Catherine has a talent in math like her father, Catherine is depressed from the death of her father who died of a heart attack (shut in of 33 days), Claire flew in from NY to attend the funeral, Catherine gets into a relationship with Hal, Claire is going to sell house (Catherine is being kicked out), Catherine finished proof of her father

ii.Deductions:

1. Hal tries to take book, Catherine doesn’t want to abandon house of her father, Catherine inherited her father’s abilities

iii.Questions:

1. Why is the proof never read?
2. How do the flashbacks impact other elements of the play besides plot and context?
3. How is individual ambition displayed in relation to familial relationships in looking at the connections between Catherine and her father as well as Catherine and Hal?
4. What does the relationship between Hal and Catherine reveal about themes of trust?
5. Central ideas: love endures/prevails, blood is thicker than water, love is everywhere/has potential
6. Genre/style: drama play​
   1. Act 1

                    i.Scene 1
                         The scene in which Catherine dreams of her father and confronts Hal about stealing her father’s work
                    ii.Scene 2
                      The scene where Catherine and Claire talk about their lives and what happened with Hal
                    iii.Scene 3
                            The scene where Catherine and Hal begin a relationship after the concert
                    iv.Scene 4
                         The scene the morning after the concert in which Claire and Catherine argue about Catherine moving to New York
              2.  Act 2
                    i.Scene 1
                          The scene in which there is a flashback to when Hal drops off his thesis to Robert when Catherine first meets Hal
                    ii.Scene 2
                     The scene in which Hal, Catherine, and Claire argue about who wrote the proof
                    iii.Scene 3
                      The scene in which Claire gives Hal the proof against the wishes of         Catherine
                    iv.Scene 4
                          The scene in which there is a flashback to the beginning of Robert’s illness as well as his wanting to talk about the proof with Catherine
                    v.Scene 5
                         The scene in which Catherine and Claire leave Chicago and Hal brings the good news of the proof’s validity

1. Interpretation
   1. For me, Proof is about the power of love and how it can make one’s life a mess at times, but also sort out some of the most difficult situations. I think that it was written in order to explore the concept of love in our everyday lives.
2. Research
   1. The author’s life:

i.David Auburn is an American playwright who lived in Chicago but moved to New York City in 1992. He attended the University of Chicago and earned a BA in English literature. After moving to New York, he studied in Juilliard School’s playwriting program under notable dramatists. At the beginning of his playwriting career, he wrote several short plays, but started writing full length plays in 1997, starting with Skyscraper. He wrote Proof in 2000 which won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He also wrote several more Broadway and award-winning plays during his lifetime. Auburn has been awarded a Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and has also received the Kesselring Prize for Proof. He lives in Manhattan, New York with his wife and two daughters.
​

1. Period and Cultural Conditions of the time when the play was written
   1. Proof takes place in Chicago during the end of the 20th century. American culture changed rapidly in response to new technologies from the turn of the century, including DVDs and the revolution of the internet. Popular American culture revolved around a punk style and hip hop as reflected by music and clothing trends. In a college environment, these elements combined along with sexual exploration to form a rebellious atmosphere.
2. ​Overlapping world or local events that might have had an impact
   1. The State of Vermont passes HB847, legalizing Civil Unions for same-sex couples
   2. Dot-Com Bubble (1995-2000)
   3. Election of George W Bush over the closest race in American history with Al Gore
3. Reception and impact on audiences
   1. Received very well; won several awards such as the Tony Award for best play and the Pulitzer Prize, positive impact on audiences
4. Themes and ideas
   1. Fate, inheritance, love, family, mental illness
5. Particular characters/character traits
   1. Traits
      1. Intelligence
      2. Fear
      3. Possessiveness
      4. Hopelessness
      5. Illness
6. Period, location, and events
   1. Late 1990s or 2000 in Chicago, IL
   2. Death of Catherine’s father prompts investigation into his work
7. Genre or style
   1. Drama
8. Unique aspects to the play
   1. Set
      1. Takes place on the back porch of a house
   2. Props
      1. Grill, notebook

​            Since before my time in IB theatre, I have read many plays of very different origins. From Greek theatre, to American satire, my experiences within plays have given me inspiration from a broad range of contexts.

Plays that I have read:

A Midsummer Night's Dream
Being a classic and by Shakespeare, the imagination and thoughtfulness put into this production behind the plot and the characters themselves. To bring the same feeling of wonder to my audience as this play brings to me would be a goal that I have.

Medea
The drama and heart-wrenching sentiments that come from this play are what I hope to bring to the drama of Proof. Since this play also uses the same themes as Proof, so by analyzing the theatrical elements from this play, I want to forge a close bond between the audience and Catherine as Medea did with its audience.

A Doll's House
Just like Medea, A Doll's House links the audience with the inner feelings of a female protagonist. Unique elements that I could borrow from in this play could be the theme of independence. Through her journey, Nora learns to do what's best for her. Borrowing this same theme, I want to promote self-love just as much as love for others and family.

The Tempest
Since Proof delves deep into the character of Catherine, I wish to mimic the same level of detail and for the audience to resonate just as much with her as with the characters in the Tempest​.

Macbeth
Like most of the Shakespeare plays that I have read, I find inspiration with the emotions of the characters and their depth. I hope to bring the same intensity of feeling to Catherine and the characters of Proof from those in Macbeth. 

Rumors
The most notable element that I took away from Rumors as an actor was the relationships between the couples in the play. In fact, it was the entire basis of the production. I want to apply the same level of connection between the characters to the relationships between Catherine and Robert as well as Catherine and Hal.

Secret in the Wings
Secret in the Wings gave me inspiration because it was so innovative in its involvement with the props. Since Proof is supposed to be a realistic play, I won't be able to have the same surrealistic element. However, I do want the actors to interact with the props so that they have a purpose, and not just a place on the stage.

I Hate Hamlet
The energetic attitude from I Hate Hamlet is what inspired me the most, as it gave off an aura of excitement and adventure. I want my production of Proof to make the audience feel enchanted with whatever sentiment I am trying to convey, because it will only make the themes and other elements stronger.

Death by Design
This play is unique in that it is not afraid to interact heavily with the audience. Multiple times there are close fourth-wall breaks and references to the play's nature are made. This element made me more aware of how I wanted to treat the barrier that separated the fictional world from the audience. I decided that I wanted to preserve the authenticity of the play as much as possible by making the play realistic.

Oedipus Rex
The tragedy of Oedipus made me think about the inevitability of fate. Perhaps I could analyze this theme in relation to Proof as the theme is pertinent to both plays. Even though Proof is a little less violent in communicating this theme, it can still have an impact on the audience through the moments between Catherine and the other characters.

Other arts performances that I found inspiration in:

Les Miserables
The Man of La Mancha
​Bumbershoot 2016
Naked Giants Concert
Etc.

I found that the most influential elements that I took away from these other types of performances were the intricacy of the set, a dedication to the mood and tone of the performance, and authenticity of the characters within the performance. In live music concerts, the energy that came from the set is what moved me as an audience member the most. Even if the music was not the most enjoyable, stage presence revived the piece altogether or helped it at least. If the tone and mood were set by the performers with a fervent dedication, then I became more interested in the piece and its message. When I saw The Man of La Mancha, I was captivated with how complicated the set was and how much time and effort was put into it. I spent the majority of the production analyzing the set and how it was constructed, as the attention to detail is what made it so attractive to me. Detail is admirable in a performance, and it is noticeable. Finally, the authenticity of the performers gave life to the play. The more unique and present the actors were, the more I was able to understand the message of the performance and focus on the less-physical elements of the production. From all of this, I think that the most important thing when making my own production is that I want to make a cohesive collaboration between all of the play's elements so that one does not distract from another.

               This week we made some major revisions to our piece. We changed the set, the plot, and the characters quite a bit. After watching a video of the performance itself with our teacher, some major flaws and problems presented themselves that required attention. It changed the perspective of our devising group to a great extent, and made us more aware of what we wanted to do as a group. To elaborate, we completely reorganized the set so that it looked more authentic, adding more props such as actual cardboard boxes, books, clothes, and covered the set floor in canvas to make it more recognizable that the protagonist was moving. The plot was entirely reformatted because as a group we decided that we needed a member to do lights as some of the sequences were too complex for others to work. That meant an moment was removed from the play, and we also changed the beginning of the production so that all members entered at once and would remain until the end unlike our original idea which was that the characters only came on one at a time. The characters themselves changed quite a bit; we gave each one a name and personality to remove any vagueness that came along with a lack of defined character. Over the past two weeks, we also formed a script that we are going to use to better format the production and remove wasted time or holes, allowing for better flow and a template to rehearse around.
               After these changes, my job as a prop master became much harder as the number of props increased at least two fold. Our group now has incredibly clear aspirations and goals to look forward to, so I think that actually looking at the production itself via video helped us immensely. Next week we plan to show the play to the other devising group in our class, and we still might make more changes. Opening night is in two weeks, so now it's time to focus. This is what I live for in theatre; watch a piece develop and grow under the minds of creative individuals to something great more than words and ideas on a piece of paper.

             The deadline at the end of December is fast approaching, so this past week my group and I decided to dedicate one day to schedule the activites and things we wanted to accomplish each day. On Thursday after we finally compelted the schedule, we rehearsed on the stage for the rest of the period. This week, we also explored the ending of the play physically by trying out different ideas of each group member. We already had a foundation for the end; it was supposed to revolve around the acrostic of the word "Nostalgia." Earlier in the devising process, we performed an exercise where we wrote personal acrostics to the word which was our theme, and the group decided on using these products in the end as they carried an importance for our individual interpretations and meaning behind Nostalgia. We still haven't decided on a title for the piece, and I think that through rehearsals and practicing, we could discover it. By the end of Christmas break, we hope to have our lines down, sounds, and props, lights, and costumes finalized. The week before the performance, we will have a full tech rundown and dress rehearsals. At this point in the process, we have our storyboard down, and we need to focus on polishing the production itself and reflecting.

                 We were finally able to get all members of our group at school, so we could officially finish our draft production. Hopefully this week we get to reveal it to our teacher for feedback. We were able to figure out everything except for some minor mishaps including the conclusion. Otherwise, it looks good and I enjoy the production quite a bit. Some small holes that might appear in play elements could be the transitions, and we also don't currently have a solid script to the production itself. I do not know if we necessarily need one, and our devising group wants to make it more natural by creating an improvised production. I think that we are in a good position, and we can begin revising our piece and working more on technical elements.

                This week we were able to accomplish quite a bit. We have a deadline next week on which we are supposed to show our teacher what we have for our devised piece. On Tuesday, we were able to figure out the first draft of our storyboard for our production. Also on Tuesday, we finalized some moments and elaborated upon others to solidify the content. Today on Thursday, we performed and revised our piece in preparation for next week. Since we didn't have one of our group members present, we were only able to go through three quarters of the production, but we can always go over those parts next Tuesday. We were also able to discover the containers for our piece: the set is a bedroom, there are two "worlds" in which we confront, and our props are always on the set. The revision process was a collaboration and a collection of trial and error. The improvisation games that we played earlier in the devising process seemed to have created a lasting effect that improves everyone's skills as an actor or actress. I feel like our group is very prepared for next week for the presentation, but we still need to finalize on a couple of elements before we have a definite "first draft" of a production.

                This week our group created exercises based off of the techniques of Stanislavsky and various theatre companies that we are going to use to create moments. This Thursday, we reflected on a specific moment for each of us and we deployed our exercises to help develop moments for each of those ideas. The exercise we used was the interaction between an actor and the set; a kind of devising and improvisation method where the actor would use boxes to make a moment. Since our production revolves around the theme of nostalgia, the moment where the actor experienced the feeling another member would snap offstage, and the actor would be given nostalgic items or topics where they would have to react with facial expression to each of the things listed. As soon as the list finished, the offstage member would snap again and the moment would continue. I used this to develop a moment about a Halloween dance when I was in middle school where my mom dressed as Michael Jackson for the Thriller video, jumpsuit and all. The object that triggered my nostalgia was the red jacket that my mom wore for the dance. The exercises that I hope to use range from spontaneous crayon drawings to trying to sell an unknown object in gibberish. I look forward to conceiving more moments for our piece, because I felt this week was very productive. The video below is a timelapse of the work we did this week.

            To find some inspiration or search for an example of a Collaborative Theatre Portfolio, I looked at one on the IB website labeled "Insomnia." I found the focus on physical and total theatre interesting to me, since I enjoy the innovation behind the use of the body to tell an entire story. When I read the portfolio, I found what I expected: background of the individual, the process of collaborating, and participation of the individual in the devising process and final piece. In order to demonstrate the growth of an individual within theatre (as IB so often requires), I knew it would be necessary to incorporate your own insight into theatre, how it impacts you, your own research and involvement in theatre, and how your knowledge affects the group as a whole. The process was pretty self-explanatory: show how the piece was developed and what the student brought to the process and applied their insight into the evolution of the production. A thing that I found interesting that I didn't think of including before was the storyboard of the final piece. Although it is helpful to describe the process of the piece, it is also helpful to lay out the final structure of the production. I think that my experience within my own theatre company also prepares me for the collaborative project: it taught me about intentions, audience, and message. I was surprised to see the same elements being used in the portfolio that I read. I hope that this project will be fairly easy because of the experience that I already have. I'm looking forward to it!