Samira Wiley is withdrawing from the Broadway production of Proof, with Kara Young announced to replace her.
Wiley, who was previously announced to play Claire, is leaving the show “due to a treatable medical condition that calls for her full attention,” according to the production. Young will now join the cast, which features Ayo Edebiri, Don Cheadle and Jin Ha.
The play, directed by Thomas Kail, is set to play a 16-week engagement starting March 31 at the Booth Theatre, ahead of an April 16 opening night.
This is the third year in a row that Young has appeared on Broadway, after winning consecutive Tony Awards for her roles in for Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Purpose (2025) and Ossie Davis’ Purlie Victorious (2024).
She was most recently seen Off-Broadway in Rajiv Joseph’s Gruesome Playground Injuries, and is set to star in the film adaptation of Alesha Harris’ Is God Is and in Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters, which Cheadle also stars in.
Proof follows Catherine (Edebiri), the brilliant daughter of mathematics professor Robert (Cheadle), who discovers a notebook containing a groundbreaking proof after his death. Young will play her sister, Claire, and Ha plays Robert’s former grad student.
Thomas Kail (Hamilton) directs the play, and acts as a producer, alongside Mike Bosner. President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground were recently announced as co-producers.
