West Virginia Wesleyan College's Department of Theatre and Dance will present its first main stage production of the semester, "Proof," at 8 p.m. Oct. 1-3 and at 2 p.m. Oct. 4 in the Virginia Thomas Law Center for the Performing Arts.

Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, and $3 for WVWC students. The play includes mature language.

The drama, which is directed by Greg Mach, associate professor of dramatic arts, features Graham Goheen, a freshman biology major from Elkins as Harold (Hal) Dobbs; Meredith Gagich, a senior musical theater major from Washington, Pa., as Claire; Lance Russell, a senior musical theater major from Belle Vernon, Pa., as Robert; and Kathleen Burnard, a junior theater major from Fairfax Station as Catherine. Yvette Boles, a freshman theater and psychology major from Chesapeake Beach, Md., is the stage manager.

"Proof" is the story about Catherine, a troubled young woman on the eve of her 25th birthday who has spent years caring for her brilliant, but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father's who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind.

Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father's madness - or genius-will she inherit?

"The play was chosen for its rich characters - there is a lot for the actor to chew on," Mach said. "It also has an interesting message as we contract the perfect and clean world of mathematics with the sloppy world of relationships and trust that we live in. These people are geniuses, and yet they struggle with the same issues of trust that we all do.

"The play is very funny, but it is also profound," continued Mach. "It is not about math, it is about people and the trust that their love is contingent upon. The proof in the title is not only applicable to the mathematical proof in question, it also refers to our need for proof that we are also loved by those we love, and the proof that our relationships are secure in the trust we extend to those we love."