[MONTEREY, CA] Robert had once been an eminent mathematician and, perhaps somewhere inside, he still was. But as he retreated further into his schizophrenic dementia, seeking messages from the Dewey decimal system coding on library books, his daughter Catherine, who had dropped out of college to care for him, became increasingly concerned about the possibility of genetic predisposition. Proof, a Tony Award-winning play by David Auburn, which starred Mary Louise Parker on Broadway, and Gwyneth Paltrow on the silver screen, will be presented as a “play reading” at the Monterey Museum of Art at La Mirada on Sunday, July 20 at 2p.m.

In concert with the Monterey Museum of Art, this compelling family drama is presented by The Listening Place, a local readers’ theater. Founded by Director Linda Hancock with actors Ibi Janko and Marlie Avant, the theater is dedicated to reviving the staged reading of plays. Janko and her father, Bela Janko, will read the signature roles at La Mirada.

“When we established The Listening Place last year,” said Janko, “we met at different homes that provided interesting settings. The setting for a play reading is important because it really is a play about the words. The Monterey Museum of Art has given us a home in which to do four or five readings a year. It is important to choose creative environments that lend a visual context and are conducive to play readings. When we did our first reading of ‘Proof,’ the audience felt they could hear the play that much better because there were no distractions. It is an intimate play about intense relationships, read in an evocative setting.”

About The Monterey Museum of Art
The Monterey Museum of Art collects, preserves, and interprets the art of California from the nineteenth century to the present day, within a national and international context. In this way, we expand the appreciation of our evolving artistic legacy and inspire a passion for the visual arts. The Monterey Museum of Art was established in 1959 as a chapter of the American Federation of the Arts. The permanent collection of 14,000 objects includes paintings, photographs, works on paper and Asian ceramics, and significant holdings of California paintings by artists such as Armin Hansen and William F. Ritschel, in addition to world-renowned photographers including Edward Weston and Ansel Adams. The Monterey Museum of Art has two locations: 559 Pacific Street and 720 Via Mirada, Monterey, CA, 93940. The Museum is open: Wednesday through Saturday, 11 am to 5 pm and Sunday 1 to 4 pm. Admission: $5 general, $2.50 student and military. Museum members and children under 12 are free. For more information, please visit www.montereyart.org or call 831.372.5477.