After a long battle with mental illness, cared for by his daughter Catherine, he passes away – upstairs, hundreds of notebooks litter the floor.

His PhD student, Hal, searches through each, until he uncovers a proof about prime numbers.

But, who wrote it?

That’s the premise of Proof, a talking head performance directed by Warren Bartik.

A clinical psychologist when he’s not directing, Mr Bartik knows more about mental illness than most, and has linked his adaptation with Mental Health Month in October.

“I think one of the really important things about this, and one of the reasons why we’ve decided to link it with Mental Health Month is that with children of parents with a mental illness – they’re often a forgotten population,” Mr Bartik said.

“This play really highlights that.

“We know that for children who’s parents have a mental illness, they become carers and they have a higher risk of mental illness because of the pressures that brings.”

Inviting Armidale secondary school students to come along to a special performance, Mr Bartik hopes to prompt a discussion on mental health with a Q&A after the play.

“This is an area of passion for me, I’ve always wanted to direct this play,” Mr Bartik said.

“It’s a serious piece of drama and I want to make people think.

“We never actually know what Robert’s mental illness is, he goes through excitability, mania, it has a lot of tenants of mental illness but we never actually know what that is.

“For a lot of people that’s always the case.”

Describing his directing style as “hands on”, Mr Bartik said he wants his four-piece cast to be generous with the audience.

“I don’t want to reinforce negative stereotypes, but to actually make this real,” he said.

“Hopefully making this real makes people have a conversation, ask a question, ask if someone needs help.

“Just those simple things that are particularly important in small communities, because one of the biggest things that prevents people from seeking help is stigma.

“One in five people experience mental illness, so it’s not something that just happens to “them”, it’s something that can happen to “us”,”.

The adaptation of Proof features Greg Balcombe as Robert, Amy Roff as Catherine, Sarah Watson as Claire and Jacob Hunt as Hal.

Tickets are available from the Armidale Drama and Musical Society website at adms.org.au, the play opens October 6.