How a true story of justice inspired the Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson-led 'The Fear of 13' on Broadway

Nick Yarris, the subject of Lindsey Ferrentino’s acclaimed drama, has actively shaped the play and the artists involved since its 2024 London premiere.

Summary

• Actors Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson; writer Lindsey Ferrentino; and director David Cromer discuss how formerly incarcerated writer Nick Yarris shaped the play The Fear of 13
• The play tells the true story of Yarris's 20+ years on death row for a crime he didn't commit
• The show plays on Broadway at the James Earl Jones Theatre from March 19

Who is Nick Yarris? Adrien Brody wants you to know.

In Lindsey Ferrentino’s bio-drama The Fear of 13, the two-time Oscar winner makes his Broadway debut playing Yarris, a Pennsylvania man who served 22 years on death row for a rape and murder he didn't commit — until DNA testing proved his innocence. The play and actor were up for Olivier Awards for the show’s 2024 London world premiere.

“He’s a remarkable man,” Brody said of Yarris during a press conference for the play, which begins March 19 at the James Earl Jones Theatre. “I feel a responsibility in telling his story faithfully. Nick manages to exude this tremendous interest in others. He’s worked tirelessly on exonerating others.”

Yarris actually had help in that regard. Hedda star and fellow Broadway newcomer Tessa Thompson co-stars as Jacki, a character inspired by the real-life prison volunteer who plays a significant role in Yarris’s exoneration and personal life.

“Over the course of the play, [Jacki] comes to understand that there is such injustice,” Thompson said. Working on the play has been eye-opening, too, for the whole cast and creative team.

Nick Yarris’s story goes from screen to stage

Ferrentino was inspired to dramatize Yarris’s story after seeing David Sington's 2015 documentary The Fear of 13, much like how a nonfiction film inspired her script for the musical The Queen of Versailles, seen on Broadway earlier this season.

“The documentary is just Nick Yarris sitting on a stool telling his life story,” Ferrentino said. “It just felt to me like theatre. He’s such a theatrical storyteller and has lived this extraordinary truth-is-stranger-than-fiction life. It felt like it would just make such great material for the stage.”

Ferrentino developed a friendship and mutual trust with Yarris, which was invaluable in the shaping and development of the play. He's officially credited as a story consultant for the Broadway production.

“I spent a lot of time with Nick,” she said. “I hear from him now on a daily basis, and have for the last, I’d say, two to three years.”

A compelling writer himself who honed his language and reading skills in prison, Yarris published the memoir Seven Days to Live after his release. It was later re-titled The Fear of 13 and preceded the documentary.

“He’s a remarkable storyteller,” said Brody. “So much of what this play speaks to is the ability to transport oneself out of harrowing conditions and circumstances through story.”

Tony Award-winning director David Cromer, who joined the production for the Broadway run, described Yarris as “wildly generous with us and supportive. He comes at us,” he said, “with all the information he can share and a great deal of faith.”

Nick Yarris offers a unique perspective

Conversations with Yarris were striking in a number of ways. Cromer said Yarris provides a reminder that a person’s life can turn on a dime — and turn very dark, very fast — just because “one thing happens." In Yarris's case, a traffic stop set off the chain of events leading to his wrongful conviction.

It’s terrifying,” the director said, “to meet someone whose experience is so much more extreme than yours.”

Ferrentino finds herself constantly marveling at Yarris’s perseverance and unbeatable spirit. “Nick has a life experience that so few people on this planet have, so I find his perspective on everything — from the show to my life — just completely unique and valuable,” she said.

“He has a different perspective on the way time moves. He has a different perspective on aggression in the world, on interpersonal dynamics,” Ferrentino added. “He often likes to say he's my spiritual advisor. He likes giving life advice because he has lived through so much.”

Brody summed up Yarris succinctly: “He’s a very strong individual,” he said, “but he’s had a pretty harrowing journey.” Now, after more than 20 years since it began, his odyssey arrives on Broadway.

Get The Fear of 13 tickets now.