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Review: Adrien Brody Shines in the Death Penalty Play ‘Fear of 13’ on Broadway

Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson make their Broadway debuts in a play about Nick Yarris’s wrongful conviction and 22 years on death row.

  • At the James Earl Jones Theatre, Academy Award winner Adrien Brody stars in 'The Fear of 13', directed by David Cromer. The play dramatizes the true story of Nick Yarris, who spent 22 years on death row for crimes he did not commit.
  • Adapted from a 2015 British documentary by director David Sington, the play chronicles Yarris after his arrest at age 21 for a rape and murder that DNA testing eventually proved he did not commit.
  • Tessa Thompson makes her Broadway debut as Jacki Miles, a jailhouse volunteer who becomes Yarris's wife. The production explores their relationship amid Pennsylvania's prison system, where Yarris was sequestered for 23 hours daily.
  • Critics praise the performances, though some reviewers suggest the production's shifting tone between horror and humor falters. The staging designed for a space exceeding 1,000 capacity struggles to convey the intimacy of the original London premiere.
  • Partnering with the Innocence Project, the play addresses wrongful convictions and systemic failures. Despite uneven pacing, it remains a potent indictment of a legal system that can hold a life in suspense for over two decades.
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  • 72% of the sources lean Left
72% Left

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Broadway.com broke the news on Wednesday, April 15, 2026.
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