PRE-SHOW PREPARATION
AND
ACTIVITIES
WITH ALIGHNMENTS TO THE COMMON CORE CURRUICULUM STANDARDS
Created by McCarter Theatre Education and Engagement. 2013.
PRE-SHOW MATERIALS
ALIGNMENT TO THE COM
COMMON
MON CORE CURRICULUM AND CORE CURRICULUM
CONTENT STANDARDS
Our production of Proof and the activities outlined in this guide are designed to enrich your students’
educational experience by addressing many Reading, Writing, and Speaking and Listening Common Core
anchor standards as well as specific New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Visual and
Performing Arts. (Click on the titles below to be linked to the activities.)
THE PROOF IS IN THE READING.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical
inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the
text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact
over the course of a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape
meaning or tone.
If questions are used for classroom discussion:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and
collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and
persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.2: Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and
formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
If questions are used for writing prompts:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or
texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection,
and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and
audiences.
ON SIBLINGS, PARENTS, AND THE THINGS WE INHERIT.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and
collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and
persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection,
and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and
audiences.
PROOF SCENE STUDY.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3: Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact
over the course of a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape
meaning or tone.
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Created by the McCarter Theatre. 2013.
PRE-SHOW MATERIALS
VP.1.3.8.C.2: Create and apply a process for developing believable, multidimensional characters in
scripted and improvised performances by combining methods of relaxation, physical and vocal skills, acting
techniques, and active listening skills.
IN CONTEXT: THE WHO AND THE WHAT OF PROOF.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas
and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on
focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection,
and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and
audiences.
A THEATRE REVIEWER PREPARES.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or
texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas
and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection,
and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and
audiences.
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Created by the McCarter Theatre. 2013.
PRE-SHOW MATERIALS
PRE
PRE--SHOW PREPARATION, QUESTIONS FOR DISC
DISCUSSION,
USSION, AND ACTIVITIES
Pick and choose among the following assignments, discussion topics, and activities to introduce your students
to David Auburn’s Proof, its theatrical origins and themes, as well as to engage their imaginations and creativity
before they see the production.
PROOF : WEB SITE BASICS.
Share the various interviews, articles and information found on McCarter’s Proof web site with your
students—preferably by reading them aloud as a class or in small groups—to provide an intellectual and
creative context for David Auburn’s elegant and engaging story of passion, genius, and family bonds.
Investigating these various resources will not only pique student interest, but may also spark and fuel fullclass and small-group discussion before coming to the theater.
THE PROOF IS IN THE READING.
The activities below will prepare your students to critically consider Proof in performance. We welcome you
and your class to read and study the entire play and collectively discuss the questions below. For those only
able to incorporate a partial reading of Proof into your class’ pre-show preparation, we suggest utilizing Act
One, Scene Four as your sample scene, complemented with the character profiles provided. We recommend
that you and your students read the sample scene in the round—that is, instead of casting the three roles
among only three students, have all students read from the play with the next student taking on the next
character’s line of dialogue—so that each student gets to “try on” the character and voice of each character in
the scene. After reading the scene aloud, engage students in a discussion of the scene, its characters, and
the developing story. Questions might include:

With which character do you most identify and why?

With which character do you most empathize or sympathize in the scene? Upon what is your
empathy or sympathy based?

Describe—in three words—what you learn about the following relationships in the course of the
scene:
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4
Catherine and Claire
Catherine and Hal
Hal and Claire
Catherine and Robert (her father)
Hal and Robert
Claire and Robert

How would you describe the tone of this scene? What type of atmosphere is created by the
characters and their interactions?

Did you notice anything that stood out to you in the words spoken by each character or about
their character voices in general? Do Auburn’s characters have distinct voices? If so, how are
they distinct? What do their voices say about them?

What do the characters want from each other? What do they want from or for themselves? If they
had to choose to live their lives to obtain either love, wealth, fame, or power, which do you think
they would choose?

Scene 4 is the last scene before an intermission. How do you think it affects the audience to be
left with Catherine’s revelation immediately before taking a moment away from the world of the
play?
Cr
PRE-SHOW MATERIALS
ON SIBLINGS, PARENTS, AND THE THINGS WE INHERIT.
When David Auburn began to write Proof, he didn’t start with the idea of writing a play about mathematics or
mathematicians. Instead his dramatic idea was grounded in an exploration of the relationship between two
sisters and a conflict over something they have found. As is often the case in family dramas, an object might
be the basis for or cause of a conflict (a coin collection, a letter, a house), but what is truly at stake in
domestic drama isn’t the object, but the making or breaking of a relationship—or the family itself.
The story of Proof focuses largely on two familial relationships at critical junctures—the relationship between
siblings (specifically two sisters, Catherine and Claire) and the relationship between a parent and a youngadult child (a father and a daughter, Robert and Catherine)—and on the theme of inheritance; a question
central to the story of the play is “What do we inherit from our parents?”
Share the above information on Proof’s central relationships and theme with your students, and then lead
them in a discussion on the dynamic nature of siblings. Questions might include:

What are the first things that come to mind when you think of sibling relationships? (You might
employ the classroom board as a place to brainstorm or create a word cloud.)

What are common conflicts among siblings?

Do you think that the gender of siblings determines or influences the nature of conflicts? Does
gender make a difference? (For example: Are typical brother-sister conflicts the same or similar
to sister-sister or brother-brother conflicts?) How does age impact sibling relationships/conflicts?

Do you think conflicts change or evolve among siblings as they get older? If yes, what do you
think accounts for the evolution? If no, what do you think accounts for a lack of evolution or
development?

How many of you have siblings? How many of you are the oldest? How many the youngest?
How many are “in the middle?” How many of you are only children? Are there any particular joys
or challenges to being: the oldest, the youngest, the middle child, or an only child? Name them.
Next have your students contemplate—via journal writing—parent-child relationships and the theme of
inheritance as they pertain to their own lives. Inform your students in advance as to how their journal entries
will be used to encourage them to write truthfully and privately, or, if their writing will be shared, to give them
the opportunity to edit their thoughts. Journaling prompts might include:

Do you come from a family or know of a family in which there seems to be a “favorite kid?” Upon
what circumstances or considerations has this favorite status been founded or granted? Do you
think favoritism is given or earned? What do you imagine life is like as the favorite child? What
do you imagine life is like for the non-favored child?

Think about the adult in your life who you consider to be your closest parental figure and describe
the nature, depth, and quality of your bond with him or her. What sort of parental figure do you
yourself hope to become?

List and describe the gifts, traits, lessons, or circumstances have you inherited from a parent or
family that you are grateful to have received. (Consider things of both a tangible/material and
intangible/nonmaterial nature.) What gifts, traits, lessons, or circumstances do you hope to pass
onto your own children or those closest to you?

Consider the things you have inherited or may inherit from a parent or your family could be cause for
conflict, stress, worry or fear. Are there ways that you might avoid or overcome these challenging
aspects of your inheritance?
Any aspect of the discussion or journaling work above can be used as inspiration for a short story, a dramatic
scene, or a visual art project, although journals should remain private unless previous notice was given.
5
Created by the McCarter Theatre Education Department. 2013.
PRE-SHOW MATERIALS
PROOF SCENE STUDY.
Getting a play and its characters up on their feet is an excellent way for students to personally experience the
playwright’s craft and explore the world and characters of the play themselves before seeing the play brought to life
in performance. Have your students study excerpted dramatic moments from David Auburn’s Tony Award and
Pulitzer Prize-winning play Proof. Widely available editions of the play include the Faber and Faber edition (2001)
and an acting edition published by Dramatist Play Service (2001). We suggest the following “French scenes”/
dramatic interactions from the play:*
#1 The opening moment of the play—Act One, Scene One—between
Robert and Catherine, beginning at the top of the play and ending with
Robert’s line, “Don’t waste your talent, Catherine.”
#2 The middle of Act One in a moment between Catherine and Hall,
beginning with Hal’s entrance and Catherine’s line “What?” and ending
with Hal’s line “I met your dad and he put me on the right track with my
research. I owe him.”
#3 A few pages into Act One, Scene 2 with Claire and Catherine beginning
with Claire’s line “Katie, some policemen came by while you were in the
shower,” and ending with Catherine’s line “Oh I don’t remember.”
#4 A few pages into Act Two, Scene One with Robert, Hal, and Catherine
beginning with Hal’s entrance and Robert’s line “Mr. Dobbs,” and ending
with Robert’s “Enjoy yourself, see some movies,” and Hal’s “Okay.”

First, if you haven’t already, share the articles and interviews included in the McCarter Proof
web site with your students, including the Character Profiles.

You might choose to read the excerpted “scenes” together as a class for comprehension and
audition. (Reading in the round and alternating lines will give each student a chance to try out the
speech and voices of different characters). Some words or phrases may need to be defined or
explained; a “Mostly Math” Glossary is available under the “Educators” tab on the Proof web
site..

Next, break your class up into scene-study duos and trios. Groups of two should work on excerpt
#1 (Robert and Catherine), #2 (Catherine and Hal), and #3 (Claire and Catherine) and groups of
three on excerpt #4 (Robert, Hal, and Catherine).

Scene-study groups should read their scene aloud together once before getting up to stage it, to
get a sense of the characters and the scene overall.

Student-actors should prepare/rehearse their scene for a script-in-hand performance for the
class.

Following scene performances, lead students in a discussion of their experience rehearsing and
performing Questions might include:

What are the pleasures and challenges of performing your scene from David
Auburn’s Proof?

What insights, if any, regarding the play or the characters did you get from
staging the play and playing the characters?

What about your character felt real and/or relatable to you in the acting of him or
her?

Was there any moment that felt strange or awkward in bringing your character to
life? Explain your reaction.

Was there a moment that felt especially compelling or fun to bring to life?
Explain your reaction.
*Note that Proof is a contemporary American play and that its characters occasionally use expletives. Educators should read each
scene excerpt before assigning to students.
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Created by McCarter Theatre. 2013.
PRE-SHOW MATERIALS
IN CONTEXT: THE WHO AND THE WHAT OF PROOF.
To prepare your class for Proof and to deepen their knowledge and level of understating of the play’s
distinctive world and its characters, have them research, either in groups or individually, the following topics:
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Playwright David Auburn
The world-premiere production of Proof
A comparison of Broadway’s Catherines: Mary Louise Parker, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Anne
Heche as Proof’s Catherine
Proof on film
Director Emily Mann
The life of a mathematician
Mathematical proof (defined)
Fermat’s Last Theorem
Sir Andrew Wiles
G.H. Hardy’s A Mathematician’s Apology
Sophie Germain
The link between genius and mental illness—fact or fiction?
Geniuses who suffered from mental illness
 John Nash
 Vincent Van Gogh
 Ludwig van Beethoven
 Edgar Allan Poe
Have your students teach one another about their individual or group topics via oral and illustrated (i.e., posters,
PowerPoint, or Prezi) reports. Following the presentations, ask your students to reflect upon their research process
and discoveries.
A THEATER REVIEWER PREPARES.
A theater critic or reviewer is essentially a “professional audience member,” whose job is to report the news, in
detail, of a play’s production and performance through active and descriptive language for a target audience of
readers (e.g., their peers, their community, or those interested in the Arts). To prepare your students to write an
accurate, insightful and compelling theater review following their attendance at the performance of Proof, prime
them for the task by discussing in advance the three basic elements of a theatrical review: reportage, analysis and
judgment.

Reportage is concerned with the basic information of the production, or the journalist’s “four
w’s” (i.e., who, what, where, when), as well as the elements of production, which include the text,
setting, costumes, lighting, sound, acting and directing (see the Theater Reviewer’s
Checklist). When reporting upon these observable phenomena of production, the reviewer’s
approach should be factual, descriptive and objective; any reference to quality or effectiveness
should be reserved for the analysis section of the review.

With analysis the theater reviewer segues into the realm of the subjective and attempts to
interpret the artistic choices made by the director and designers and the effectiveness not of
these choices; specific moments, ideas and images from the production are considered in the
analysis.

Judgment involves the reviewer’s opinion as to whether the director’s and designers’ intentions
were realized, and if their collaborative, artistic endeavor was ultimately a worthwhile
one. Theater reviewers always back up their opinions with reasons, evidence and details.
Remind your students that the goal of a theater reviewer is “to see accurately, describe fully, think clearly, and
then (and only then) to judge fairly the merits of the work” (Thaiss and Davis, Writing for the Theatre,
1999). Proper analytical preparation before the show and active listening and viewing during will result in the
effective writing and crafting of their reviews.
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Created by the McCarter Theatre. 2013.