Adrien Brody goes to prison in a predictable criminal justice schlep…
Theater review
THE FEAR OF 13
One hour and 50 minutes, with no intermission. At the James Earl Jones Theatre, 138 W. forty eighth Street.
It speaks volumes about Adrien Brody’s alternative of roles that next to his anguished, Oscar-winning turns in “The Pianist” and “The Brutalist,” his Broadway debut as a wronged man who spends 22 years on demise row comes off as positively chipper.
Cracking jokes and animatedly telling tales in a sing-song street-corner voice, our Sufferer Laureate performs Pennsylvania inmate Nick Yarris in “The Fear of 13,” Lindsey Ferrentino’s curiously unmoving and talky, talky, talky play that opened Wednesday night time at the James Earl Jones Theatre.
For an actor who apparently hadn’t been onstage since age 12 before taking up this half in London in 2024 — though his record-breaking Oscar speech certainly qualifies as a one-man present — Brody comports himself properly sufficient. He is poised and relaxed, and the delicate, broken spirit he brings to his heartbreaking movies transitions easily to the theater.
It’s just that “The Fear of 13,” as written, is a lifeless, stuffy and dutiful schlep by years of occasions, posing an insurmountable impediment for any actor. What unfolds is little more than a well mannered novella of narration about a weighty matter: the criminal justice system.
Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson star in “The Fear of 13” on Broadway. Emilio Madrid
Even by the customary of exposition-heavy reveals, the proceedings in this manufacturing, straightforwardly directed by celeb babysitter du jour David Cromer, are oddly mild-mannered. Death row descends into Coffee Talk.
Granted, Yarris, a real former inmate whose harrowing experience behind bars was the topic of a 2015 British documentary with the same title, is clearly an outgoing, talk-with-your-hands form of man. But the pacified drama by Ferrentino, which runs practically two hours without an intermission, lands like an prolonged director’s lower of the opening sequence of “Goodfellas.”
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A tall stack of monotonous “and then”s, and there’s a heck of a lot of telling that goes on under sleepy, dim light.
Here’s how Nick bought into the clink as a younger man from Philadelphia who made a bunch of unlucky decisions. Here are the mistreated males in there with him. Here’s the standing of his snail-paced attraction. Here’s what actually occurred the night time of the homicide. All of it comes with the unstated tone of: Can you consider this?
Our silent reply every time: Yes!
Ferrentino appears content together with her play’s grander function outweighing its energy. And, admittedly, the timeline holds the viewers’s consideration sufficient that you not less than need to look into Yarris additional whenever you get dwelling. His story is exceptional and unhappy.
Brody performs real former demise row inmate Nick Yarris. Emilio Madrid
Still, this present exists in large half to elicit gasps by exposing the brokenness of the criminal justice system — not to make us know, perceive and get misplaced in the lifetime of a fellow human being.
Only during weekly conversations with Jacki Miles, a prison volunteer performed by Tessa Thompson with the protecting protect of Clarice Starling, are there glimpses of connection. Jacki visits to speak to demise row inmates about their days, yet, as a rule, she never pries into the crimes that bought them locked up.
Those other prisoners, performed by Ephraim Sykes, Eddie Cooper and Victor Cruz, among others, start out prominently and then abruptly disappear, never to be spoken of again. Only Sykes, of “Ain’t Too Proud” and “Hamilton,” stands out because he will get to sing a chillingly fairly track that cuts by the fatalism.
The ensemble segues into many roles in the practically two-hour play. Emilio Madrid
The more Jacki meets with Nick, to whom she’s particularly drawn, her partitions start to break down and she or he turns into passionate about his trigger. Soon, his plight is her personal. The toll that devotion takes on her life, emotionally and logistically, is more said than felt, as with so many other passed-over fireworks in “The Fear of 13.”
Although the demise row denizens are forgotten, the ensemble ably segues into different roles, such as prison guards and authorities employees, most of whom are flatly characterised to paint them as lazy or dangerous.
For occasion, the males in cost of Nick’s DNA proof would relatively chat about their sandwich orders than assist him achieve freedom. That’s a hammy outdated throwback to cops at the doughnut store.
This isn’t the first time Ferrentino has based a present on a documentary. Emilio Madrid
At least the play is a step up for Ferrentino after the wretched musical “The Queen of Versailles” that she wrote the ebook for earlier this season. That dud was also based on a documentary, and I query why she retains coming again to those movies as a source of inspiration.
The hallmarks of docs — confessional interviews with an invisible questioner, balanced views rooted in hindsight and a rudimentary rundown of occasions — numb live drama, significantly if a author leans into them as Ferrentino does.
This playwright ought to herself develop a healthy concern of 13. Channel 13. PBS.
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