Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13 and one of the vocabulary words prison inmate Nick Yarris learned during the years he was on Death Row. It is also the name of his memoir - The Fear of 13: Surviving Death Row. Nicholas Yarris was convicted and sentenced to death in 1981on charges of a kidnapping, rape, and murder that he did not commit. He spent 22 years on Death Row in Pennsylvania but was released in 2004, after DNA evidence established his innocence.

Playwright Lindsey Ferrentino adapted his moving memoir about a tragic miscarriage of justice into a play. Directed by David Cromer, the story begins when Yarris (played by two-time Academy Award winning actor Adrian Brody) has already been on Death Row for over 10 years.He’s treated harshly and spends 23 hours a day in solitary, not speaking or interacting with anyone else, so he passes his time reading.

Jackie Miles, (Tessa Thompson of TV’s His & Hers) is a PhD student and visits the prison doing volunteer work. She comes to the prison weekly and spends a few minutes speaking with several different inmates. She meets Yarris and they develop a bond. Eventually she spends all her time with him. Interestingly, during that time, they never discuss how he wound up on Death Row, so she does research on him.

Later when he reads about the use of DNA for crime solving, he shares his story with her and they begin to work together to prove his innocence. The audience ‘sees’ the trial and how Yarris was convicted with no evidence. By that time, they love one another and she suggests that they marry to give her easier access to request evidence on his behalf.

Adrian Brody is charming as Yarris but adopts a tough boy swagger that seems more like the Bronx than Pennsylvania. He is glib and often smiling when he tells Jackie stories and she and the audience aren’t sure if he’s making them up. He evinces little anger or emotion. Even when he is disappointed about his rejected appeals and corrupted evidence, Brody is unconvincing with a single slam on the table and an expletive or three.

Making her Broadway debut as Jackie Miles, Tessa Thomson (TV’s His & Hers) is warm and believable. Addressing the audience, she is conflicted and wonders why she’s getting involved and knowing how it will look. Yet she falls for him anyway. Thompson projects Jackie’s own naivete and intelligence to make the audience care about her.

An ensemble of men serve as the other characters including Yarris’s mother, adding a little humor and even music as he tells the story of two inmates who loved one another as well as his adventures as “a dumb kid.” Maybe because we know that Yarris will be released eventually there’s little anticipation or tension. Brody doesn’t even seem frustrated or upset. The play shows the time passing -10 years of their waiting for DNA evidence- in a quick scene. Sadly the efforts are futile and they feel that they’ve exhausted all hope. Shortly afterwards, Jackie leaves him to begin her life again.

We know that Yarris will eventually be released so there’s little suspense. The audience's disbelief is in the time that actually transpires. It’s hard for us to comprehend the passage of so many years. More important is how unjust and indifferent the law is. Time passes but finally when he's lost his will to live, Yarris is found innocent. Yet, the play continues with a flashback of Yarris at age 9 which would have fit better earlier in the story, causing the last few moments of the play to drag on.

What makes this story powerful is its authenticity. An innocent man lost 22 years of his life. We know that justice is supposed to be blind. But now we find out how painfully slow it can be.
There are people wrongly imprisoned who will never get their time or their lives back. Fortunately, Jarris created a career for himself as a writer by first telling this story and going on from there. Maybe a better ending for Ferrentino’s play would have been his ‘afterwards’.