Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle to Make Broadway Debuts in Proof Revival

Golden Globe Award winners Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle will make their Broadway debuts in a revival of David Auburn’s Tony Award-winning play Proof, which is set to begin previews at a Shubert theater to be announced on March 31, 2026, ahead of an official opening night April 16. Thomas Kail (Hamilton) will direct.

A drama about the porous border between genius and madness, Proof tells the story of a recently deceased University of Chicago mathematician who left a groundbreaking mathematical proof in his papers, and his daughter’s quest to authenticate the proof and secure posthumous credit for her dad.

Cheadle, who will play Robert, the father, was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Hotel Rwanda. In 2001, he originated the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Topdog/Underdog off-Broadway at the Public Theater.

Television audiences will know Edebiri for her portrayal of Sydney Adamu on the FX series The Bear. She will play the daughter, Catherine.

In addition to directing, Kail is also producing this revival with Mike Bosner.

The creative team for Proof includes scenic designer Teresa L. Williams, costume designer Dede Ayite, and lighting designer Amanda Zieve. Composer Kris Bowers will provide original music.

Proof premiered off-Broadway with Manhattan Theatre Club in 2000 before transferring to Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre that fall. It won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Tony Award for Best Play in 2001 and ran through January 2003. This is the first Broadway revival.