THE MATH DOESN’T ADD UP

A starry revival that struggles to convince

Don Cheadle as ‘Robert,’ Ayo Edebiri as ‘ Catherine,’ and Jin Ha as ‘Hal’

All the action in the Broadway revival of David Auburn’s Proof takes place on the porch of Robert and Catherine’s home in Hyde Park, Chicago. Teresa L. Williams’s set and Amanda Zieve’s lighting emphasize the sloping lines of the house’s double gables, the vertical and horizontal lines of the doors and windows. The house is neat and well-proportioned, almost like a mathematical proof.

Ayo Edebiri as ‘ Catherine’

But inside the house, turmoil reigns. Robert (Don Cheadle), a brilliant mathematics professor whose mental illness ended his career, has recently died, and there are questions about whether his daughter Catherine (Ayo Edebiri), who took care of him throughout his final years, will be able to live by herself. She is subject to depression. Her schooling has been erratic. And because she left Northwestern to take care of her father, she has a long way to catch up.

Kara Young as ‘Claire’ and Ayo Edebiri as ‘Catherine’

Catherine’s sister, Claire (Kara Young), who has supplied money but not much else, wants to sell the house and bring Catherine back to New York City, where she lives with her husband. Catherine does not want to leave. And at the end of Act One, we learn she may be a genius in her own right—if it is true, as Catherine claims, that the proof found by Hal (Jin Ha), a grad student going through Catherine’s papers, is really hers, and not her father’s. Neither Hal nor Claire believes her, and given her academic record, one can see why.

Don Cheadle as ‘Robert’

The play veers back and forth between past, present, and Catherine’s fevered imagination. This makes life difficult for both director Thomas Kail and the audience, which has to follow the flashbacks and integrate them into the story, especially since the flashbacks sometimes seem unnecessary and contrived. But this problem is inherent in the writing. The bigger problems with this production are in the acting.

Don Cheadle as ‘Robert’ and Ayo Edebiri as ‘ Catherine’

Edebiri makes Catherine likable and quite normal. She appears neither fragile nor in any way out of touch with reality. In fact, considering that she’s just lost her father, she handles herself rather well. When Claire insists on taking Catherine back with her, it is she and not her sister who seems unreasonable. Robert is no more believable. He is a kindly father, not a frustrated genius. When Catherine reads the supposedly nonsensical proof he wanted her to work on, it seems more like poetry than gibberish. Perhaps he was just in the wrong field.

Jin Ha as ‘Hal’ and Ayo Edebiri as ‘ Catherine’

Ha is effective as the over-eager grad student, and Young is fierce and protective as Claire. Their interactions, as both allies and antagonists, give the play its few moments of urgency.

If Proof is a play that explores the relationship between extreme intelligence and mental illness, we must believe Catherine and Robert have both. Otherwise, we are watching a not terribly interesting family drama.

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photos by Matthew Murphy

Proof
Booth Theatre, 222 W 45th Street, New York
2 hours 15 minutes with one intermission
ends on July 19, 2026
for tickets, call 212.239.6200 or visit Proof Broadway

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