The Milwaukee 2024 – 2025 art season was simply remarkable. I was continually surprised and challenged by the art, music, dance, and theater events that I was fortunate to experience. And I hope that it also helped me to improve my understanding of the arts and increase my ability to see. I know that I was able to expand my coverage of theater as the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre and Next Act Theatre invited me to participate in their seasons. And I want to thank the artists, performers, directors, art admins, and university professors who encouraged and supported me in 2024 – 2025. It let me know that I was adding value and moving in the right direction with my efforts at An Intuitive Perspective.
So I felt a great deal of excitement and anticipation as the 2025 – 2026 season got underway. And I was off to a great start with Next Act’s Sanctuary City and Vanguard Milwaukee’s Presentation of Lungs. And then I was called away for a family emergency and missed a few other season openers and felt a profound sense of loss. And it just reinforced in me that art is important: to the individual and to the community. I am home now and intend to jump back into the season with both feet this weekend. So for those readers looking forward to a review of your favorite theater company, I am sorry. And to those organizations looking forward to my support, I am sorry. I may get called away again, so if I seem to be missing in action, please bear with me.
So this seems like a good place to add these thoughts. Milwaukee’s arts scene is incredibly vibrant and diverse and the level of professionalism is truly remarkable. But please don’t take it for granted. As Wisconsin has slipped to 50th place in public support of the arts, please support your favorite art groups by attending every event that interests you. And donate to them in any manner and any means that you can. It is important.
I know that I have previously mentioned here at AIP, that David Auburn’s Proof is my favorite play of the 21st Century. It is passionate, involved, and complete storytelling with a sometimes fragile nature. Having seen two amazing productions of it in the past (Milwaukee Rep and American Players Theatre) and having read it a number of times, it still completely draws me in. And I was very pleased that director Naomi Tiefel was once again able to fully engage me with her cast and the actions on that little back porch in Chicago.
And I have also previously mentioned that I thought Lake Country Playhouse would be an ideal stage for this intimate play. I was happily right.
left to right: Michael Chobanoff, Anna Gumberg, and Keenan Ellis. Photo by James G Baker. Photo courtesy of the Lake Country Playhouse & Academy
There are four characters here and Auburn has drawn them in such a way that we feel empathy for all four of them despite getting angry with them at times. Robert is an esteemed mathematician and professor at the University of Chicago. He is famous for a number of mathematical proofs from his early career. And he is well respected by his students until his career is cut short by mental illness. He has two daughters, Catherine and Claire. The younger daughter, Catherine, has inherited Robert’s math skills and she fears she will also inherit his mental health issues. Catherine is estranged from her older sister, Claire, a currency trader who lives in New York. Claire is in Chicago for Roberts funeral. And Hal, a former student of Roberts and now a professor at UC, is concerned about Robert’s legacy it would seems, jumps in and adds to the turmoil of this sad weekend.
So yes, this is a play about mathematicians and mathematics and academia…there are a few very funny math and math nerd jokes here. But the real story lies in the dynamics between Robert and Catherine, between Catherine and Claire, and Catherine and Hal. So there are some very human emotions and moments around family, mental health, expectations and aspirations, and love. I am just amazed at how Auburn ties it all together.
Michael Chobanoff and Anna Gumberg. Photo by James G Baker. Photo courtesy of the Lake Country Playhouse & Academy
From the above, you can see that Catherine is the main focus in the story. And Anna Gumberg is a phenomenal, fully believable Catherine. Gumberg clearly embodies a loving and devoted daughter despite setting aside her own goals in order to be Robert’s caregiver. Gumberg shows us the strength that that requires and (spoiler alert) when her father relapses her facial expressions tell us a story in itself, as they move from joy to despair to resignation as she realizes what is happening. Catherine is a difficult role but Gumberg feels it and we feel it. Other scenes with Hal show us her range. Gumberg has to move from untrusting to flirty to disgusted with Hal in a relatively short period. And there is always the underlying concern that not only has she inherited her father’s genius but his mental illness as well. Gumberg feels that sadness too.
Michael Chobanoff is a convincing Robert. From the gentle and loving father in our opening scene with Catherine to the flashback with Catherine and Hal as the energetic professor and math whiz, Chobanoff is Robert. And a very human and humorous Robert it is. But his best scenes are during his relapse as Chobanoff gives us the frenetic Robert insistently writing in his notebook as the machinery whirls until his conversation with Catherine makes it apparent that he’s slipped off the rails again. The conflict and drama Chobanoff brings to this scene is very compelling.
Anna Gumberg and Ariel Korducki. Photo by James G Baker. Photo courtesy of the Lake Country Playhouse & Academy
Claire has returned to Chicago for Robert’s funeral. And Ariel Korducki gives us a Claire in charge, and clearly a woman who expects to be in charge. Besides the funeral she has also swooped in to save Catherine! But Korducki can show us Claire’s human side too as she is interested in Catherine’s well-being and does indulge a bit too much with the math students following the funeral. But Korducki also brings us Claire’s too sure focus that initially ignores Catherine’s feelings and then ultimately betrays her. Not a sibling dynamic to celebrate.
Keenan Ellis and Anna Gumberg. Photo by James G Baker. Photo courtesy of the Lake Country Playhouse & Academy
Hal has his own focus, looking for important math ideas in the 103 notebooks that Robert has left behind in his study. Keenan Ellis shows us two reasons why he is interested in doing this…partly to preserve Robert’s legacy but also because the work could be published and the mathematician who discovers it will be famous too. Aside from that Ellis is also the nerd who doesn’t quite have what we might consider normal social skills although he does know how to woo Catherine. And although in the end he redeems himself, he too betrays Catherine. You’ll have to see the play to understand that but it is a telling condemnation of gender expectations.
Anna Gumberg, Keenan Ellis, and Ariel Korducki. Photo by James G Baker. Photo courtesy of the Lake Country Playhouse & Academy
Proof continues at the Lake Country Playhouse and Academy at 221 E Capitol Drive in Hartland, WI, through May 23, 2025. The runtime is 120 minutes plus a 15 minute intermission.
RATING: PG-13+ Audience advisory:Play covers heavy emotional topics dealing with mental illness, grief, and the pressure of academic achievement.
Lake Country Playhouse & Academy Presents Award-Winning Drama Proof
Hartland, WI – April 17, 2025 – Lake Country Playhouse & Academy (LCP) is proud to present David Auburn’s drama Proof, winner of the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but mentally unstable father, a renowned mathematician. After his death, she’s left to navigate her own uncertain future while grappling with the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father’s; and the 103 notebooks her father left behind. As the weekend unfolds, a budding romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook force Catherine to confront the most challenging question of all: how much of her father’s brilliance—or his madness—has she inherited?
“I was drawn to direct at LCP because Proof is one of my favorite plays of the last 25 years,” says director Naomi Tiefel, making her LCP directorial debut. “When you combine this masterfully written play with our talented cast and the intimacy of the LCP stage, it becomes a theatrical experience you don’t want to miss.”
Tiefel brings a wealth of experience in both acting and directing, with recent credits including Calendar Girls (West Bend Theatre Company), Agatha Christie’s Rule of Three (Wisconsin Lutheran College), Deja Vu Again (Kettle Moraine Playhouse), and Beauty and the Beast and The Wizard of Oz (Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School).
“As a college professional and active community theater participant, I find nothing more beautiful than the marriage of science and art,” Tiefel adds. “Proof is about far more than mathematical genius. It explores complex relationships between fathers and daughters, sisters, and lovers. It’s about mental health and women in science—subjects that are deeply meaningful to me.”
Tiefel is joined by stage manager Angie Rodenkirch, returning to LCP in a new role after serving as music director for A Christmas Carol in 2023 and 2024, and appearing in Our Town and A Rock Sails By. Costume design is by Beck Men, and Breanne Brennan—co-director of LCP’s acclaimed 2025 production of Jekyll & Hyde—serves as production manager.
The cast of four includes local actors Michael Chobanoff (Robert), Anna Gumberg (Catherine), Keenan Ellis (Hal), and Ariel Korducki (Claire), several of whom are also making their LCP debut.
“The reason I love [Proof] is because each of the four characters develops such deep, authentic relationships—both in real time and through flashbacks,” says Tiefel. “The talent in this cast is unbelievable, and we spend so much time in our rehearsals really digging into who these people are and what drives them.”
Proof will run from May 9-23, 2025 at Lake Country Playhouse & Academy, 221 E. Capitol Drive, Hartland, WI 53029. Performances will be held on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm and Sunday afternoons at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $26. Tickets can be purchased online at www.lakecountryplayhousewi.org
