THE FEAR OF 13 Previews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 12:00am

Has Nick Yarris got a story for you.

2-time Oscar winner Adrien Brody makes his Broadway debut as the convict at the center of The Fear of 13, the London import based on the 2015 documentary of the same name and beginning previews tomorrow (March 19). Lindsey Ferrentino’s death-row drama also stars Tessa Thompson (in her Broadway debut) as the volunteer who forms a deep connection with Yarris; Brody and Thompson are joined onstage by Ephraim Sykes, Michael Cavinder, Eddie Cooper, Victor Cruz, Joel Marsh Garland, and Jeb Kreager. Directed by David Cromer, The Fear of 13 opens on April 15 and runs through July 12 at the James Earl Jones Theatre.

“Nick’s got a story to tell you. About how a routine traffic stop turned into a conviction for murder. About how he spent the next 22 years on death row. About how he finally petitioned the court to ask not for an appeal, but for his execution date. And about what happened next…”

Who’s going?

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 1:43am

I sadly won’t see this, but this does sound fascinating. 

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 8:49am

Got a front row ticket for March 31- only 196. I could have gone with Blusters-- or Becky Shaw--- or this- and chose Fear of 13- I hope I enjoy it- Brody is- of course- a phenomenal actor.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 5:29pm

BWAY Baby2 said: "Got a front row ticket for March 31- only 196. I could have gone with Blusters-- or Becky Shaw--- or this- and chose Fear of 13- I hope I enjoy it- Brody is- of course- a phenomenal actor."

“Only 196”. When we’re okay with tickets priced at only 196, that’s pretty tragic, but yeah, when Little Shop of Horrors is charging $400 off Broadway, anything goes, I guess. 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 12:56am

Fear of 13 merch

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 5:51pm

Little weird - the website says 1:45 runtime without an intermission, but Telecharge says an even 2 hours with an intermission. 

Brody's understudy is Ben Thompson, and Eboni Flowers covers for Tessa Thompson. 

 

Updated On: 3/19/26 at 05:51 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 10:10pm

Very curious to hear how this went tonight.

The London production had a different director, Justin Martin, who has some more experience dramatizing the imperfect legal system. :)

Updated On: 3/19/26 at 10:10 PM

[surferbro24]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 10:47pm

rest assured when people see the show they will post about it lol

Updated On: 3/19/26 at 10:47 PM

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 11:04pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "Very curious to hear how this went tonight.

The London production had a different director, Justin Martin, who has some more experience dramatizing theimperfect legal system. :)"

It went over well in the UK, including Olivier nominations.  Martin  stepped away from the project for ...  reasons ... 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 11:08pm

On reddit there is 1 positive review.  And 3 "luke warm" / negative reviews.

[Lucky Mom2]

Posted: 3/23/26 at 12:40pm

going tonight, I'm a fan of Adrien Brody fan so will probably be biased but I will report back. I did go for balcony seats (front row) at $85 each, bought at the box office so no additional fees. 

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 3/23/26 at 1:20pm

Well we shelved all the Lindsey Ferrentino into one season at least...

[Lucky Mom2]

Posted: 3/24/26 at 9:51am

The show was fantastic - captivating, entertaining. Adrien Brody is so charismatic and professional, Tessa Thompson was wonderful too. We laughed often, cried a bit, thoroughly enjoyed.

It did run for just over 2 hours with no intermission, totally made sense with this story.

[schubox]

Posted: 3/26/26 at 10:00am

Lucky Mom2 said: "The show was fantastic - captivating, entertaining. Adrien Brody is so charismatic and professional, Tessa Thompson was wonderful too. We laughed often, cried a bit, thoroughly enjoyed.

It did run for just over 2 hours with no intermission, totally made sense with this story."

Was going to ask about run time, the internet said hour 45, was hoping to maybe see a 1 PM and a 3PM, but if it's lasting 2 hours probably not worth it

[InTheBathroom1]

Posted: 3/26/26 at 1:13pm

Lindsey Ferrentino stop adapting documentaries for the stage challenge.

I saw this last night and thought it was fine.  I had heard that cell phone ringing had been a problem throughout previews so I'm thrilled I didn't hear a single phone go off. 

I had mixed feelings about the show itself.  It's definitely a compelling true story, but i don't know that it's compellingly dramatized.  So much of this play is direct address which I find to be a rather boring way to present a play--I much prefer the "show don't tell" approach.  For me, Adrien Brody was just alright.  It felt like he was putting on a character rather than becoming the character.  His character also just talks so much that it felt like I was watching his Oscar speech all over again.  However, I found Tessa Thompson's performance truly remarkable.  She slipped into the role seamlessly and was the highlight of the evening.  Any scene she was in felt more grounded.  These scenes also had more of the traditional drama and less of the narration, which did work in her favor.  There is a heartbreaking scene about 20 minutes before the end of the play that had my attention rapt.  There were plenty of empty seats and I do think it's worth it if you grab a cheap seat.

[Melissa25]

Posted: 3/27/26 at 10:07am

Thank you InTheBathroom1 for your review and especially the direct address / narration details. This will keep me far, far away. I can watch documentaries from the comfort of my couch. It’s hard for me to feel anything with someone talking at me. Sorry to miss Tessa.

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 3/27/26 at 10:23am

feels boring

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 3/27/26 at 11:23pm

I thought it was okay. Not a big fan of exposition heavy shows, but it does make some sense here in that the character has a penchant for speech. The perspective shift was quite interesting but I felt they could make better use of it and there's a lot of lost potential there. My biggest gripe is that as someone who actually volunteered at DOCCS, the play's portrayl of the COs to me was laughably comical and made it apprarent to me that the production did not bother to do real research. There was a prison strike last year across the state of NY. One of the COs I talked with before the strike told me that they had already worked 20 hours for their shift. In prison towns like Auburn, (most) people don't get the job because they are power hungry. They get the job because it was one of the only reasonably good paying jobs they have access to. They, too, are overworked and victims of the current criminal legal system. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 3/28/26 at 9:44pm

How does the exposition/direct address compare to that of Punch?  

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 3/28/26 at 10:09pm

chrishuyen said: "How does the exposition/direct address compare to that of Punch?"


It’s waaaay more digestible than Punch and you don’t have to listen to those horrifically bad accents.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 3/28/26 at 10:16pm

BWAY Baby2 said: "chrishuyen said: "How does the exposition/direct address compare to that of Punch?"


It’s waaaay more digestible than Punch and you don’t have to listen to those horrifically bad accents."



Ummmm. I’m the one who posted this comment. For some reason I was logged into that other account?? This is very bizarre. 

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/29/26 at 1:08am

I’m honestly extremely torn about this because it there is certainly a compelling story to be told here, but it’s buried beneath a sludge of talky soap-operatic melodrama, hokey jokes and plot holes that runs a whole two hours without intermission. I read some of the reviews from London and it feels like similar issues with verbosity - though in London, it was claustrophobic as Brody was surrounded on all sides, whereas here, the set is so expansive that it places emphasis on the collective of death row prisoners being shrunk into a dehumanized nothingness, and so once the focus shifts primarily to Brody and Thompson, they struggle to fill the dead air. In both cases, there was a feeling of arrest and an inability to escape the ennui of a tell-not-show approach to the story. Also, the fact that the show starts up with a group of prisoners Thompson is supposedly helping and then they just disappear/are never heard from again is frustrating. Maybe a brief line or side plot about one of them getting executed might raise the stakes a bit.

At this point, I think Lindsay Ferrentino’s Broadway career is dead in the water unless she finally realizes that adapting documentaries for the stage isn’t a winning game. Brody and Thompson try their best, but Brody’s Nick seems to just maintain a constant stream of humor as a coping mechanism. Thompson is essentially a set set piece for most of the first half until Nick goads her into opening up, beginning a rather unsettling union. The supporting players as prisoners, especially Ephraim Sykes (who gets a solo song to sing) are good with the material they have.

I’m going again at the end of April, so I wonder if there will be any substantial changes or evolution, but Cromer is likely now the second director in a season that Ferrentino has handed a lump of coal with the expectation they’ll make it into a diamond.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 3/29/26 at 4:53am

TotallyEffed said: "BWAY Baby2 said: "chrishuyen said: "How does the exposition/direct address compare to that of Punch?"


It’s waaaay more digestible than Punch and you don’t have to listen to those horrifically bad accents." 



Ummmm. I’m the one whoposted this comment. For some reason I was logged into that other account?? This is very bizarre."


I had a similar experience yesterday. I was logged into someone else's account - bwayfan. No idea why as I have had this and only this account for about 20 years....I posted about this in Titanique thread where someone else mentioned the same experience! 

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 3/29/26 at 7:48am

This didn't get many outright raves in London, but reactions from critics and those on the UK site were more positive than what's appearing here so far.  Interesting.

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/29/26 at 2:07pm

The way Ferrentino approaches the story almost seems like it could’ve been a one man show, but there’s a lot of set dressing with cast members and padding with some brief musical interludes (one which is well executed and one that could stand to be cut).

Although likely exhausting, I could see a world where this is revised into a one-man version that is successful