Guide to ‘Proof’ on Broadway starring Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle

David Auburn’s Proof — about genius, family, and identity — follows Catherine, the daughter of a brilliant but mentally ill mathematician who recently died, and who fears she’s inheriting his instability. When a groundbreaking math proof turns up, a debate emerges over its authorship, and she sets out to confirm whether it's her father's work.

Beginning March 31, Proof plays at the Booth Theatre, located at 222 W. 45th St. between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. The venue opened in 1913 and was named for actor Edwin Booth, the brother of notorious assassin John Wilkes Booth.

Plays and musicals that have run recently at the theatre include Little Bear Ridge Road, John Proctor Is the Villain, The Roommate, and Best Musical winner Kimberly Akimbo.

The running time of Proof is 2 hours including one intermission. The typical length of a Broadway play is between 90 minutes and 3 hours, and longer shows often include a 15-minute intermission.

Proof runs on Broadway from March 31 to July 19, 2026.

Proof plays Tuesday through Sunday, with two performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays and no performances on Mondays. Performances will run for a limited 16-week engagement.

The standard weekly schedule listed above is subject to one-off changes. Please visit our Proof page for more information.

There is no official age recommendation for Proof on Broadway yet, but the play explores themes like death and mental illness and is not recommended for kids. Children under age 4 are not permitted in Broadway theatres.

Proof debuted off Broadway with Manhattan Theatre Club in May 2000, and the production transferred to Broadway five months later. The first Broadway revival begins March 31, 2026 at the Booth Theatre.

David Auburn wrote Proof. Debuting in 2000, it remains his best-known play. Auburn won a Pulitzer Prize and a Best Play Tony Award for Proof in 2001, and he adapted for a 2005 film.

Auburn’s work explores identity, mental illness, memory, and grief. His other plays include Skyscraper, The Columnist, Lost Lake, and Summer, 1976. He wrote screenplays for The Lake House, The Girl in the Park, and Georgetown.

A young woman’s family members and a young man populate the world of David Auburn’s Proof, a drama that unfolds after the death of a storied academic.

• Catherine: A gifted but self-doubting mathematician who’s torn between genius, grief, and instability.
• Claire: Claire’s practical, successful, and controlling sister.
• Robert: Catherine and Claire’s late father, a brilliant mathematician undone by deteriorating mental illness.
• Hal: Robert’s former student who develops a relationship with Catherine.

The 2026 Broadway cast of Proof features Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe winner Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) as Catherine, Golden Globe winner Don Cheadle (House of Lies) as Robert, Emmy winner Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale) as Claire, and Jin Ha (Hamilton) as Hal under the direction of Hamilton Tony winner Thomas Kail.

The 2026 revival of Proof will be in the running for the 2025-26 season’s theatre honors, including Tony Awards. Previous productions of the play have been honored with prestigious prizes and nominations.

• Tony Awards: The 2000 Broadway premiere won the following year for Best Play, Best Actress (Mary-Louise Parker), and Best Direction (Daniel Sullivan). It was also nominated in the Best Featured actor and Featured Actress categories.
• Pulitzer Prize: In 2001, the jury called Proof a “poignant drama about love and reconciliation.” It won against finalists The Play About the Baby by Edward Albee and The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan.
• Other theatre honors: Proof won Best Play honors at the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, and Outer Critics Circle Awards.

Proof has had a number of noteworthy productions since its development at George Street Playhouse in New Jersey during the 1999 Next Stage Series of new plays.

• May 2000 Off-Broadway premiere: Proof premiered off Broadway with Manhattan Theatre Club. Daniel Sullivan directed a cast that included Mary-Louise Parker, Johanna Day, Larry Bryggman, and Ben Shenkman.
• October 2000 Broadway premiere: The Off-Broadway production transferred to Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre with the original cast intact. The show ran until January 2003, with replacement actors including Len Cariou, Kate Jennings Grant, Josh Hamilton, Neil Patrick Harris, Anne Heche, Seana Kofoed, Stephen Kunken, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Patrick Tovatt.
• 2002 London premiere: The play premiered in London's West End at the Donmar Warehouse in May, starring Gwyneth Paltrow as Catherine under the direction of Shakespeare in Love’s John Madden.
• 2003 Australian premiere: Proof premiered in Australia at the Sydney Opera House.
• 2013 London revival: Mariah Gale played Catherine in the Menier Chocolate Factory revival in London.
• 2026 Broadway revival: Proof's first Broadway return, starring Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle, begins performances March 31 at the Booth Theatre.

Yes — David Auburn adapted his play for the 2005 Proof film directed by Shakespeare in Love’s John Madden. The film stars Gwyneth Paltrow (reprising her role from London’s West End), Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Hope Davis.

Learn more about the show, including stage firsts, the title’s meaning, and how math and cookery can overlap.

• Ayo Edebiri, Don Cheadle, Samira Wiley, and composer Kris Bowers make their Broadway debuts in Proof.
• In math, a proof is a deductive argument for a mathematical statement, showing that the stated assumptions logically guarantee the conclusion.
• Catherine, Robert, and Claire are known only on a first-name basis on stage. The film gave them a surname: Llewellyn.
• Chefs, like the one Edebiri plays in The Bear, troubleshoot flavors and textures in the kitchen, while mathematicians solve abstract problems through trial, error, and reasoning.

Get Proof tickets on New York Theatre Guide soon. A powerful play with a star-stacked cast and ace director, Proof returns to Broadway with the calculations for success.