Don Cheadle (Photo: Matthew Murphy)
Proof
By Julia Polinsky
Love. Intelligence. Genius, even. Betrayal. Sacrifice. The revival of David Auburn’s Pulitzer- and Tony-winning Proof, now at the Booth, has all this and more: great structure, superb writing, knockout performances.
Proof centers around Catherine (Ayo Edebiri), a slouchy, visibly depressed 25-year-old college dropout, the daughter of Robert, (Don Cheadle) who in his younger days was a genius rockstar mathematician. We discover that he believes Catherine has great promise, and badgers her, as parents do, to make something of herself. We also soon discover that he is dead, after a long struggle with mental illness.
So, the first-act conversation between a fond, prickly father who loves his daughter, eggs her on to do brilliant work, and yet forgets her birthday: it’s all happened in Catherine’s mind. As they move around the back yard and porch of a slightly shabby home in Chicago (terrific scenic design from Teresa L. Williams) we learn that Catherine has lived with him for years. His caregiver, she gave up her own studies to deal with his craziness, and fears she will have the same issues.
The conversation between them transitions to a confrontation with Hal (Jin Ha) a former student/acolyte of Robert. Hal has been looking through the notebooks Robert left behind, seeking something brilliant hidden in the gibberish, as if Robert had sometimes continued to be the genius he was before the onset of his insanity. Catherine tells him he can’t come any more, despite the obvious attraction between them, but Hal begs for more time to read. Catherine makes no bones about the notebooks being filled with garbage, yet Hal tries to take one with him on the way out, with predictably bad result. Is he honoring Robert? Or maybe looking for an edge for his own career, an idea he can claim for himself?
Ayo Edebiri, Don Cheadle, Jin Ha (Photo: Matthew Murphy)
The arrival of Claire (Kara Young), Catherine’s bossy, controlling sister, adds a couple of familiar family-trauma layers into the mix, and it seems that Proof will be, dammit, just another family-behaving-badly show. Until. After the funeral, Hal and Catherine give in to their attraction, and the next morning, Catherine has agreed to give Hal access to her father’s work. All of it, including the hidden notebook in a locked drawer to which she gives him the key. What he finds there, and what Catherine says about it, lands a curtain line like a nuclear bomb, and sets up the whole second act. Saying more would require spoilers. Suffice it to say that Act 2 has plot twists, psychological shocks, suspense, and pity and fear to make Aristotle weep.
That Proof plays so well owes much to the look and feel of the show. Lighting design from Amanda Zieve evokes evening, night, day, and flashes of brilliance, in the limning of the house – uprights, roofline, window frames– with bright, linear, colorful light that echoes what may be happening in the mind of these brilliant people. It also does an effective job of easing the transitions between scenes, as does terrific music from Kris Bowers. Director Thomas Kail moves his actors with aplomb and superb pacing. Dede Ayite’s costume-is-character design absolutely works, from Catherine’s “hide me from the world” oversized sweaters to Claire’s FiDi-ready wardrobe.
Kara Young, Ayo Edebiri (Photo: Matthew Murphy)
Star power will put people in seats, but will it break your heart? In this case, yes. Edebiri’s nuanced performance simmers with intelligence, humor, and despair in this, her first Broadway outing. Young, who stepped in to the role fairly late in rehearsals (replacing Samira Wiley, who had to withdraw for medical reasons), gives her usual terrific performance as the borderline-hate-able (maybe gaslighting?) Claire. Cheadle plays Robert beautifully, without overdoing the “bughouse” aspects of his personality, leaning on “loving, smart dad” rather than “raving lunatic.”
That’s a lot of star power on one stage, but the two marquee names are likely the draw. People may come to see Cheadle because of his significant, decades-long, multiple award-winning career in film, television, and theater. Thankfully, he’s also very good, and fills the stage and the theater with his subtle, nuanced performance. Ayo Edebiri, also famous, also award–winning, also gives a deeply satisfying performance that will smash your heart. Let it.
At the Booth Theatre
222 W. 45th St
Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes, one intermission
Through July 19, 2026
