David Auburn Is A Successful Playwright — He Has Proof

Print Story | Email Story
Not just creativity, but opportunism and careful research went into writing Proof, David Auburn’s play, just awarded the Pulitzer Prize, now on Broadway. “It’s an award for this production,” said Auburn, sharing the credit with actors and production staff. Auburn spoke last to a full house at the Adams Memorial Theatre at Williams College, where his wife has been named to a post in the history department. His talk had been scheduled before the announcement of the prize. The play centers on a young woman, the day before her mathematician father’s funeral, worried that she may have inherited some of his mental illness, as well as his talent. “I never intended to write a play about math,” said Auburn. “I didn’t set out to write a play about math.” His initial idea was, he said, to write about “two sisters fighting about something left behind.” So he had to decide on the McGuffin, as Alfred Hitchcock called “the thing everyone was chasing.” His other starting point, he said, was “someone worried about inheriting a parent’s mental illness.” But mathematics is work that can be done in solitary, unlike science, almost always a group effort, so mathematics it was. “I found a lively, somewhat eccentric subculture of people,” said Auburn. As an example of his depiction of this subculture, he read an exchange between Katherine, the daughter, and a former student of her father’s, who asked her to come hear a band. The band is called lower case i, which stands for imaginary number — a math joke. Part of the play’s tension comes from her father’s fear that his creative work lay behind him. One mathematician was noted for taking speed, because he was afraid that his mind had slowed down as he got older, Auburn said. “There’s a common belief that you’re less likely to produce good work later in life,” he said. Auburn described himself as “opportunistically grabbing details, asking myself how true to the subculture they are.” “A lot of people have this fear, fear that they might not do the work they want to do,” he said. And the play explores the “relation between insanity and genius, particularly mathematical ability.” “Was I saying that mathematicians are all barking mad, or does doing the work make people crazy? The answer is no. “How responsible is it to have the play’s connection between insanity and the ability to do great work drawn so plainly? I plead the last refuge of the dramatist — expediency,” said Auburn. Dramatic tension hinges on the disbelief Katherine encounters when she claims to have written the mathematical proof the graduate student, and her off-beat romantic interest, finds among her father’s papers. That young man thinks she, being a woman, is incapable of devising the proof. As context for this doubt, Auburn cited the difficulties women in mathematics have historically faced. Women mathematicians, he said, connect strongly with Katherine’s difficulties.No such doubt would have met a man’s claim, Auburn said. To illustrate those difficulties, he cited the precedent of French mathematician Sophie Germain, 1776-1831, whose innovative work involving prime numbers was hailed, but when her identity as a woman was revealed, the reaction was astonishment. Auburn said he verged from his political science major in college in Chicago writing comedy sketches for revues. “I’d really like to make a go of this,” he remembers thinking. And after a stint as a screenwriter in Los Angeles, he realized he’d rather be broke as a playwright in New York. He started a theater company with friends, presenting plays in “very small venues., and he joined the Juilliard play writing program, then had a play performed by the Manhattan Theatre Club. Asked the answer to the question posed by Proof, he responded, “Yeah, she wrote it.” In creating the young woman character, he said, “I tried to write a sullen character. She was nasty and flippant in the script.” The actress now playing the part on Broadway, Mary Louise Parker, “loved it,” said Auburn. Responding to a question from psychiatrist Dr. John Howland on what form of mental illness Auburn had in mind, Auburn answered schizophrenia, because the onset age of the early 20s, Katherine’s age, “gives her very specific reason for worry.” Responding to another question about the necessity for mathematical accuracy, since few people would know the difference, Auburn responded, “I think it matters. If you get your facts right, other good things will follow.” The production changed somewhat in development. “At the end of the play were some one-liners that had a Catskills kind of rhythm,” he said. “So I cut some of the jokes.” “The original ending had her opening the book, but the audience didn’t know the play had ended and they sat in their seats, so I wrote a little bit of math talk. That nailed it down. It nailed it down a little bit more than I would’ve liked.” Auburn is also working on a screenplay of Proof, and plans to direct one of the upcoming regional productions. Asked to describe his method of writing, Auburn said once he has an idea, he makes lists of scenes until he reaches “critical mass,” and “gets some dialogue going.” “I try to write a draft very quickly, moving from incident to give the plot forward momentum,” he said. “I wrote a skeletal draft, in a week I had a detailed outline. Then I went back to give the characters individuality. That took six or eight months. I don’t write every day.” He learned he had won the Pulitzer, he said, when, talking on the telephone to his wife, he heard the beep of call waiting. My publicist and my agent called. I clicked back and said ‘I got it.’” “It was the benefit of amazing work,” he said, crediting the entire production. Mathematics department Chairman Colin Adams introduced Auburn, calling it “amazing happenstance” that the talk had been scheduled before the award was announced, but occurred so soon afterward. Adams said he has not seen the play but “I’ve read it and loved it.” “It’s a huge hit in the mathematics community,” said Adams. “It’s fun to have the math world portrayed in such a great production. “And the talk was the first ever joint event between the mathematics and theater departments.”
Share
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

North Adams Jewelry Store Has New Owner

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

Cheryl Coppens put out a call for someone to take over the jewelry business she began last spring  — jewelry maker Alexandra Padilla answered the call.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Artful Jeweler has a new owner who is looking to expand its offerings.

Cheryl Coppens opened the jewelry store in May, showcasing local artists, offering fine jewelry, and jewelry repair.

But a new grandson in Texas, and the difficulties in flying back and forth to see him, had her looking to move closer to him.

Last month, she posted on the business's Facebook that she wanted someone to take over the space and continue the venture. Alexandra Padilla reached out to her and Coppens said she met all her criteria she was looking for in anew owner.

"You have to really want to be in retail. You have to want to be in this community, priced where people can afford it. Alex is native to North Adams. Her husband, she's got two great kids, so it just felt like they would be able to continue the store," Coppens said. "So the criteria really was somebody that would work the store, not somebody that would just come in and hire employees. I didn't want that."

Padilla started taking over the store in the beginning of December. She has been selling jewelry for about three years, and has an online shop, and has worked in wholesale jewelry for about 15 years.

"I always wanted to have my own thing on it, and I wanted to bring something new, and I want to involve my family, my kids do something, and I want to be independent," she said.

Now Padilla showcases her jewelry in the Ashland Street store and plans to keep some of the local artists' items, like stained glass made by Coppens' mother.

Padilla customizes jewelry and tailors pieces to her customers.

She plans to work around her job at Berkshire County Head Start so she can open store for more hours. 

She also plans to redesign the store a little bit and bring in a couple more lines, like more rings and pearls. 

The store is open on Saturdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursdays 9 to 2, Fridays 9 to 6, and Sundays 9 to 3. The store has also been open on Mondays 10  to 5 and Tuesdays 10  to 3 for the holidays. 

Padilla thanks Coppens for trusting her and hopes customers continue to support the Artful Jeweler.

"Thank you for trusting me. I'm going to try and do my best and work hard to make it happen," she said. "This is our first time selling retail, so we hope the community supports us in here."

Coppens will be helping Padilla until she is comfortable operating the store on her own. She said it will continue to be a space of community support.

View Full Story

More North Adams Stories

Business
image description

New North Adams Jewelry Store Has New Owner

Business
Community News
image description

New North Adams Water Safe to Drink

Community News
Community News
image description

North Adams Lifts Boil Water Order for Most of City

Community News
Community News
image description

Clarksburg Average Tax Bill Up 4%

Community News
Community News
image description

Brown Street Bridge Reopens in North Adams

Community News
Community News
image description

North Adams Worked the Weekend Fixing Water Line Breaks

Community News
Latest Stories
Previous Next

What's Trending?