Ayo Edebiri, Don Cheadle to star in ‘Proof’ on Broadway

The actors will lead the first revival of David Auburn’s Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, which last appeared on Broadway from 2000-03.

Here’s the proof: Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle will lead the first Broadway revival of Proof in spring 2026. Performances begin on March 31 ahead of an April 16 opening night at a theatre to be announced.

Edebiri, a 2023 Emmy Award winner for The Bear, is also best known for her roles in the films Theater Camp and Bottoms and voice roles in Inside Out 2, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and the Netflix series Big Mouth. She makes her Broadway debut with Proof.

Cheadle makes his own Broadway acting debut with the show, having previously earned a Tony Award for producing Best Musical winner A Strange Loop on Broadway in 2022. Cheadle has performed Off-Broadway in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline and the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning Topdog/Underdog, but he is best known for his roles as Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda (Oscar nomination) and James Rhodes/War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, among others. Cheadle also has two Grammy Awards and 11 Emmy nominations.

The actors will lead the first Broadway revival of Proof, written by David Auburn and directed by Tony Award winner Thomas Kail (Hamilton, Sweeney Todd). The drama follows Catherine (Edebiri), whose father, Robert (Cheadle), a genius math professor, has recently died after a long battle with mental illness. When one of his students discovers a potentially groundbreaking math proof in his office, Catherine — who inherited her father’s smarts and, she fears, his instability — sets out to prove its authorship while trying to avoid going down her father’s tragic path.

The creative team for Proof will also include Oscar and Emmy-winning composer Kris Bowers, set designer Teresa L. Williams, costume designer Dede Ayite, and lighting designer Amanda Zieve.

Additional cast and creative team members for the Broadway revival have yet to be announced.

Proof premiered on Broadway in 2000 at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where it ran until 2003. That production won the Pulitzer Prize, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play, among other accolades. Auburn later adapted his script for a 2005 film that starred Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Hope Davis, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Check back for information on Proof tickets on New York Theatre Guide.

Photo credit: Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle. (Edebrri photo by Gilbert Flores; Cheadle photo by Chris Pizzello for Invision)