`PROOF' EQUALS EXPECTATIONS.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

OK, THE HYPE is deserved.

Playwright David Auburn is a dramatic force to be nurtured and admired. Let's hope Hollywood keeps its paws off the 33-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner at least long enough for him to try to top the work that earned him such adulation.

That would be ``Proof,'' a drama about a mathematical genius, his gifted daughter and the pluses, minuses, cosecants and logarithms (don't ask me - it sounded good) of families and lovers. Auburn may or may not know his numbers, but he knows something about parents, children, siblings and new arrivals. To a man, ``Proof's'' characters are funny, honest, textured and more than a little damaged. It's a privilege to spend a couple of hours in their company.

Would that the show were displayed to its best advantage. The Wilshire Theater, where the national tour opened for a two-week engagement Tuesday, is too big for this quite intimate play. Even John Lee Beatty's award-winning set, for all its lived-in touches, threatens to swallow up the action.

Re-creating his Broadway set, Beatty presents us with the back porch of a run-down Chicago brown stone. Daylight and shadow (designed by Pat Collins) slice through the eaves as seasons dictate. We meet Catherine (played by Chelsea Altman) drinking cheap champagne straight from the bottle on the eve of her 25th birthday. She's not celebrating.

Catherine's father, Robert (Robert Foxworth), a revered mathematics professor who revolutionized the field, died a week earlier after a long bout with mental illness. Catherine, who was his caregiver, is justifiably exhausted. Since she has her father's head for numbers, she's also terrified that insanity may have trickled down the gene path as well. Her estranged older sister, Claire (Tasha Lawrence), is coming for the funeral, and one of her father's former students, Hal (Stephen Kunken), is rooting through Robert's things. He's looking for perhaps a last bit of important undiscovered research. Catherine has something that more than fits the bill.

The character of Catherine represents a portrait of isolation brilliantly rendered. Here we have a woman, grown up too fast, who finds herself lonely, guilt-ridden, scared, cheated, patronized and abandoned. Altman, who does great sarcasm, gives us the entire package, blending wit, hostility and a ton of charisma. She could dial back some of the grandiose anger, particularly later in the second act. (In a smaller house, she really wouldn't need it.)

The only immediate comfort is a ghostly visit from her father, who pushes her buttons even as he gives her some words of reassurance. Catherine is not convinced. Then there's Claire, who wants to sell the house and take Catherine back to New York.

We witness family bonds - father/daughter, sister/sister - with all the accompanying joys and messiness. Even characters who drive each other nuts clearly have history behind them, and all those knowing glances, casual touches and routines between Altman and Foxworth, and Altman and Lawrence, are beautiful to witness. Credit four excellent actors perfecting chemistry after spending seven months together on the road, and director Daniel Sullivan, who knows how to guide his players.

The solo works aren't so bad either. Altman carries much weight on her shoulders, particularly in the early scenes. She's so beautifully, hostilely alone. The ever-excellent Foxworth has a knockout turn in flashback as Robert pilots himself through a rare ``good day.'' Lawrence and Kunken bring some important shading to roles that are a little more challenging than they might be. There's no reason to hate Claire, misguided though she often is.

There's a kind of mystery that weaves through the second act of ``Proof,'' which nobody who calls himself a friend should reveal. Its resolution is, like so much else in this play, quietly stunning. ``Proof'' invites a second viewing. It's a pity this excellent version is only here for two weeks.

PROOF - Three and one half stars

Where: Wilshire Theater, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday; through June 16.

Tickets: $42 to $52. Call [phone].

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Tasha Lawrence, left, Stephen Kunken, Robert Foxworth and Chelsea Altman share a scene from the drama ``Proof,'' at the Wilshire Theater.