Chiara Aurelia to join ‘John Proctor Is the Villain’ Broadway cast

The Cruel Summer actress will make her Broadway debut in the critically acclaimed play by Kimberly Belflower, now running at the Booth Theatre through August 31.

Welcome to the coven! Chiara Aurelia will make her Broadway debut in John Proctor Is the Villain, replacing Tony Award nominee Sadie Sink in the play at the Booth Theatre from July 15 through the show’s August 31 closing.

Aurelia is best known for starring as Jeanette Turner in the Freeform series Cruel Summer, as well as for roles in the films Gerald’s Game and Back Roads. She is currently making her Off-Broadway debut in Dilaria at the DR2 Theatre.

In John Proctor Is the Villain, she will step into the role of Shelby Holcomb, originated by Sink (Stranger Things), who will play her final performance July 13 as previously announced.

The John Proctor Is the Villain Broadway cast also includes Nihar Duvvuri as Mason Adams, 2025 Tony nominee Gabriel Ebert as Carter Smith, Molly Griggs as Bailey Gallagher, Maggie Kuntz as Ivy Watkins, Hagan Oliveras as Lee Turner, Morgan Scott as Nell Shaw, 2025 Tony nominee Fina Strazza as Beth Powell, and Amalia Yoo as Raelynn Nix.

Written by Kimberly Belflower and directed by Tony winner Danya Taymor (The Outsiders), John Proctor Is the Villain takes place in a rural Georgia high school, where five teenage girls’ unit on The Crucible in class coincides with the emergence of local sexual assault scandals, making them rethink who their heroes and villains are and helping them find their voice as they decide.

John Proctor Is the Villain is the most Tony-nominated play of 2025, earning seven nominations, including for Best Play. Read our John Proctor Is the Villain review.

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Photo credit: Chiara Aurelia. (Photo by Emma Beiles)