PROOF Starring Kate Mansi To Launch Arizona Theatre Company's 59th Season

Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) will launch its 59th season with David Auburn’s acclaimed drama Proof, starring Emmy Award-winning actress and director Kate Mansi as  Catherine. The production begins its Tucson run September 27 and opens in the Tempe/Phoenix market  October 24.  

For Mansi, the role represents more than an ATC debut. Proof has held a deeply personal place in her life  since she was 19 years old and used Catherine’s monologue when auditioning for a conservatory. Years  later, she returns to the character with a perspective shaped by her experiences as an accomplished  actress, director and artist.  

According to Arizona Theatre Company, conversations about the play with Mansi’s grandmother, Honey,  gave the two a shared language for discussing mental difference – adding a deeply personal dimension  to Mansi’s connection to Catherine and the story.  

“Proof has held profound meaning for Kate since she auditioned for a conservatory at 19 with  Catherine’s monologue,” ATC notes in its artist profile. “Conversations about the play with her  grandmother, Honey, gave them a shared language for mental difference.” 

Mansi brings extensive theatre, television, film and directing experience to the role. Her screen work  includes Casa Grande for Amazon, How I Met Your Mother, ABC’s General Hospital and NBC’s Days of Our Lives, for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award. She has also expanded her career behind the  camera, directing for General Hospital and the festival-run project Oh Sh*t!. She holds a Bachelor of Arts  degree from Pepperdine University.  

“This season brings together stories that are funny, heartfelt, thrilling, and deeply human,” says  ATC Kasser Family Artistic Director Matt August. “From iconic works from the American theatre to  a world-premiere mystery inspired by Shakespeare, the lineup offers something for everyone.” 

Proof follows Catherine, the daughter of a late prize-winning mathematician, as she confronts questions  about her father’s legacy, her own abilities and the possibility of love. When her father’s protégé  discovers an extraordinary mathematical proof among his papers, a debate erupts over who actually  wrote it.  

The result is a story about family, trust, inheritance, identity and the complicated relationship between  genius and madness – while exploring Catherine’s struggle to step out of her father’s shadow and  determine who she is on her own terms.  

The play premiered in 2000 and won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.  ATC describes Proof as a story about “escaping the isolation of genius and embracing the promise of  love.”