Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe Award winner Ayo Edebiri and Academy Award nominee, two-time Golden Globe Award winner, and 11-time Emmy Award nominee Don Cheadle will make their Broadway debuts next spring in the first-ever New York revival of David Auburn’s Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play Proof.
Directed by Tony Award winner Thomas Kail and produced by Mike Bosner and Kail, the production will begin previews Tuesday, March 31, 2026, ahead of an official opening night on Thursday, April 16, 2026.
Proof will play a strictly limited engagement at a Shubert theatre to be announced. Sign-up for ticketing information is available at www.proofbroadway.com.
The creative team includes Kris Bowers (original music), Teresa L. Williams (scenic design), Dede Ayite (costume design), Amanda Zieve (lighting design), and Daniel Swee, CSA (casting). Baseline Theatrical will serve as general manager. Visual artist Alexis Franklin has designed the production’s key art.
Edebiri, acclaimed for her Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe-winning performance in The Bear, brings her talent as an actor, writer, director, and comedian to the Broadway stage. Her credits span Inside Out 2, Bottoms, Theater Camp, Abbott Elementary, and the upcoming Luca Guadagnino film After the Hunt.
Cheadle, one of the most celebrated actors of his generation, is known for Hotel Rwanda, Boogie Nights, Crash, and the Ocean’s trilogy, as well as his role as James Rhodes/War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His stage career includes Topdog/Underdog at The Public Theater and appearances at the Guthrie, Shakespeare in the Park, and The Goodman Theatre.
About the Play
Proof premiered Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2000 before transferring to Broadway, where it won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Tony Awards, including Best Play. It has since been performed worldwide and adapted into a 2005 Miramax feature film.
Additional casting and ticketing information will be announced in the coming weeks.
About the Artists
Ayo Edebiri (Catherine) is an award-winning actor, writer, producer, director, and comedian, who is a tour de force both in front of and behind the camera. Currently, Edebiri stars in FX’s, “The Bear,” which debuted in 2022 to critical acclaim, earning 13 Emmy nominations and ten wins, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Edebiri made her directorial debut in season three of “The Bear” and earned a Directors Guild of America Award nomination in the category of Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy Series. For her masterful portrayal of sous-chef ‘Sydney,’ she won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (season one) and was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress (seasons two and three). She also received Critics Choice, SAG, and Golden Globe Awards for Best Lead Actress (season two) and was nominated again for season three. She also co-wrote episode four of the show’s fourth season, “Worms”, now streaming on Hulu. She recently voiced ‘Envy’ in Pixar’s Inside Out 2, the highest-grossing Pixar film of all time, and is currently in production on the Apple TV+ series “Prodigies,” opposite Will Sharpe. She will next be seen in director Luca Guadagnino’s highly anticipated feature, After The Hunt, alongside Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield.
Don Cheadle (Robert) is an acclaimed actor, producer, and director known for his versatile career across film, television, and the stage spanning over four decades. Cheadle gained early recognition for his role in Devil in a Blue Dress. He later earned widespread acclaim for his roles in Boogie Nights, Traffic, and Hotel Rwanda which garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He directed, starred in, and produced Miles Ahead, inspired by the life of legendary musician Miles Davis. Additional film credits include Talk To Me, Crash, Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s series, Reign Over Me, The Guard, Out of Sight, Unstoppable, and he starred as ‘Colonel James Rhodes’ in six films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Television credits include “The Rat Pack,” “House of Lies,” “Black Monday” and “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist.” A graduate of CalArts BFA Theatre Program, Cheadle is an accomplished stage actor. He originated the role of ‘Booth’ in Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize winning play Topdog/Underdog at New York’s Public Theatre under the direction of George C. Wolfe. Other stage credits include Leon, Lena and Lenz at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis; Cymbeline at the New York Shakespeare Festival; ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore at Chicago’s Goodman Theater; and Athol Fugard’s Blood Knot at the Complex Theater in Hollywood. He also directed Cincinnati Man at the Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis and The Trip at Friends and Artists Theater in Hollywood. Cheadle was one of the producers of the Broadway musical A Strange Loop which was nominated for 11 Tony Awards winning Best Musical.
David Auburn (Playwright) is a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and director. His plays include Summer 1976 (MTC/Broadway), The Adventures of Augie March (Court, Chicago), Lost Lake (MTC), The Columnist (MTC/Broadway), and Proof (2001 Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award, New York Drama Critics Circle Award). Film work includes The Girl in the Park (writer/director), Georgetown, Proof, and The Lake House. He is Associate Artistic Director at the Berkshire Theatre Group, where he has directed Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Dracula, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Petrified Forest, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Anna Christie, and A Delicate Balance, among other plays. Other directing credits include Long Day’s Journey into Night (Court, Chicago); and the Off-Broadway world premiere of Michael Weller’s Side Effects (MCC). He is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University School of the Arts, where he teaches screenwriting. Guggenheim Fellowship, 1998-1999.
Thomas Kail (Director & Producer). Broadway directing credits include Sweeney Todd, Hamilton, Freestyle Love Supreme, In the Heights, Lombardi, and Magic/Bird. Off-Broadway selected directing credits include the world premieres of Hamilton, Dry Powder, Tiny Beautiful Things, Kings, The Wrong Man, In the Heights, Broke-ology, When I Come to Die, and Daphne’s Dive. Broadway producing credits include Sweeney Todd, Derren Brown: Secret, and Freestyle Love Supreme. Television directing and producing credits include “We Were the Lucky Ones” and “Up Here” on Hulu, “Hamilton” on Disney+, “Fosse/Verdon” on FX, and “Grease: Live” on Fox. He is a recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor and is a graduate of Wesleyan University.