Former Critics’ Circle Most Promising Newcomer Mariah Gale will lead the cast of the Menier Chocolate Factory production of Proof when Polly Findlay directs the show in March.
Gale, who is currently performing in the Gate theatre’s production of Gruesome Playground Injuries, is joined in the production by Jamie Parker, Emma Cunniffe and Matthew Marsh.
Star of the Young Vic’s acclaimed production of Three Sisters and Ophelia to David Tennant’s Hamlet, Gale plays Catherine, who has cared for her mathematician father Robert for five years, in David Auburn’s drama. When ex-student Hal discovers a ground-breaking proof in Robert’s office he wonders who is the author of the work, while Catherine ponders how much of her father’s mental illness, or genius, she has inherited.
Parker is once again playing a Hal, having played his Proof character’s namesake in the Shakespeare’s Globe production of Henry IV Parts I and II and Henry V. When not playing characters named Hal, the former original cast member of The History Boys has appeared in TV series Parade’s End and The Hour.
Marsh, who plays Robert, is a National Theatre regular with credits including The Last Of The Haussmans, Blood And Gifts and Copenhagen, while Cunniffe, who plays Claire, boasts West End credits including Losing Louis and The Entertainer.
Proof opens at the intimate London Bridge venue following the current hit production of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, which won the Best Musical Award at the recent Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards.