“The Test” play at Teatro Zoco

“The Test” play at Teatro Zoco

• Zoco Theatre, La Dehesa Avenue 1500, Lo Barnechea.
  
• July 19 to August 25.
• Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
• Tickets at $18,000 HERE.

Catherine has sacrificed years of her life caring for her father, a brilliant mathematician who revolutionized his field of study at a very young age. His notebooks now lead her to uncover a series of dark secrets. What has she really inherited from him? His genius or his madness?

Teatro Zoco presents its new theatrical production, “The Test,” by acclaimed American playwright David Auburn.

“Proof” returns to the local stage under the direction of Marcelo Leonart and with a cast headed by Paula Luchsinger (“El Conde”, “La jauría”), the outstanding actor Tito Bustamante, Andrew Bargsted (“Cordillera”, “El cartero de Neruda”) and Valentina Muhr (“Cromosoma 21”, “La muerte y la doncella”). The set design and costumes are by Catalina Devia, the lighting design is by Andrés Poirot and the music by Miguel Miranda. Magdalena Urarte assists in the direction.

For Marcelo Leonart, “La prueba” is a family play in every sense of the word. “It is a play about a father, about two sisters, and the topics revolve around that core: family inheritance, favoritism and the decline of a dysfunctional family that was once united and is beginning to fragment due to life circumstances. We all want to make our own life.”

“Although mathematics is very important in the play, it is an excuse to tell us the story of a family with which we can all identify,” says the director and playwright.

Auburn’s work is unlike any other Leonart has directed in the past. His repertoire is mostly made up of titles he has premiered with his company La pieza Oscura, with texts written by himself (“Grita”, “Noche mapuche”, “La casa de los monstruos”) and also by his partner, the playwright Nona Fernández (“El taller”, “Liceo de Niñas”, “Voyager”). He has rarely ventured into the task of directing works by others and on commission, as in 2017, when he directed “Flores de Papel” by Egon Wolff.

“John Cassavetes said that you had to be like the Beatles and write your own material, but I am also very interested in doing this work of covers, I could say, which is taking works that interest me and other ways of narrating. As a writer, in the theater I like to stage. And as a director, I like to narrate,” says Leonart.

“The Test is a type of realistic, American theatre from the late 20th and early 21st centuries, which I am also very interested in because it manages to stage universal and close conflicts, despite having a packaging that may be a bit alien. Without a doubt, the substance is beneath that,” he adds.

Big success

Premiering in 2000 at the Manhattan Theatre Club on Broadway, “Proof” won the Pulitzer Prize and three Tony Awards the following year, and became one of the most successful and widely performed plays worldwide this century.

The play has had a remarkable international run since its debut in the United States. In 2002, London’s Donmar Warehouse premiered a version directed by John Madden and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Richard Coyle. It has been translated into several languages ​​and staged in numerous countries, including Spain, Argentina, France, Mexico and Japan. It also inspired a film directed by Madden himself in 2005, with a cast also headed by Paltrow – nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her portrayal of Catherine – alongside Anthony Hopkins and Jake Gyllenhaal.

“Proof” also has its history on the local scene. In 2003, it was directed by Claudia Echenique and starred Willy Semler as the professor now played by Tito Bustamante (Robert), Berta Lasala as Catherine and Benjamín Vicuña as Andrew Bargsted (Hal).

The initial spark for the work is said to have emerged while the author was researching another story. He was in the midst of doing so when he came across a story about a brilliant mathematician who, despite his mental deterioration, remained obsessed with his work.

“A fascinating study of genius and its emotional and psychological consequences,” wrote The New York Times of Auburn’s work. “’The Test’ is a beautifully balanced drama about love, trust and the pain of family secrets,” said the British newspaper The Guardian.

The Independent praised the playwright’s pen: “Auburn’s writing deftly combines sharp wit with deep emotion.”

Artistic card:

Dramaturgia: David Auburn
Direction: Marcelo Leonart
List: Paula Luchsinger, Tito Bustamante, Andrew Bargsted, Valentina Muhr
Set and Costume Design: Catalina Devia
Lighting Design: Andrés Poirot
Assistant Director: Magdalena Urarte
Music: Miguel Miranda