The verdict is in: "PROOF" by David Auburn had a successful opening night at the Butler Little Theater this weekend.

Great performances, combined with crafty writing, took the audience on an emotional journey most seemed to have enjoyed.

"PROOF" focuses on Catherine (Katy Wayne), a young woman who has spent years caring for her father, Robert (Dennis Casey), a brilliant mathematician whose slow, downward spiral into suggested madness ultimately concluded with his death.

After the death of her father, Catherine is confronted by her sister, Claire (Terri Schultz), who wants to take her back to New York with her, and Hal (Aaron Shackelford), a former student of Catherine's father who hopes to find some hint of Robert's genius among his incoherently scribbled copious notebooks.

Wayne nailed the emotional roller coaster that was Catherine. Excellent writing by Auburn combining emotional poignancy interspersed with bits of humor and more than a hint of romance kept the play and her role from becoming morose.

Her humor and her tears captivated the audience and made us believe in the struggles that Catherine faces. Her performance evoked sympathy and support for her courage and her sacrifice. The audience identified with the unwritten question that she fears about exactly how much of her father she has inherited or is destined to become.

Her father, played by Dennis Casey, added to her confusion as evidenced by his appearance in flashbacks prior to his illness and then after his death to celebrate her birthday. Casey offered up a commendable performance, ending with the realization of his manic descent that ended Catherine's college career and put her on the hospice track.

His emotional portrayal of a man who has come to grips with his fate was most compelling. Casey and Wayne's scenes were both tender and sardonic.

The socialite sister only served to frustrate Catherine more, which Wayne portrayed with award-winning sarcasm. Schultz turned in a worthy performance as the "helpful" older sister with a few pangs of guilt she is trying to assuage. She showed her versatility as an actress with this role. The chemistry between Schultz and Wayne was sibling rivalry at its finest.

A newcomer to the BLT, Aaron Shackelford plays a great geek, Hal, who may have just gotten the girl. He is a cute, bumbling, fumbling guy whose love for math both moves and angers Catherine. As she and Hal gravitate toward each other, they push at the edges of each other's knowledge, both mathematically and emotionally.

The first half of the play is tight and fast-moving and leaves the audience wanting more and discussing the possibilities during intermission. It is immensely enjoyable, despite a few bouts of gratuitous foul language.

However, Auburn's choice to switch to a flashback at the beginning of Act Two unfortunately diffuses the tension built up in Act One, and the scenes that follow are more predictable than anything we saw in the first half.

Nonetheless, it is an entertaining play about relationships, family, love and, of course, math.