Fear of 13

My wife and I caught a matinee of "Fear of 13" starring Adrien Brody this afternoon at the James Earl Jones Theatre on Broadway. We were seated in the very last row of the balcony, and with the theater only two-thirds full, we decided to move closer. An usher told us we had to return to our original seats, despite roughly 200 empty seats in our section. I asked to speak with management, and after a brief standoff, we were allowed to stay. I'll never understand why ushers insist on keeping people in bad seats when hundreds are empty.

That aside, the main draw here was seeing Adrien Brody perform live, and he did not disappoint. He was terrific. Sadly, the play itself was not.

For the uninitiated, mild spoiler ahead, it’s about a man on death row who falls in love while fighting an unjust conviction. The show has plenty to say about the cruelties of the criminal justice system, but none of it will surprise anyone in the audience. I wanted to be moved, and the play never quite gets there. The meaning of the title is only revealed in the final moments, and even then it's so muddled that my wife didn't catch it. I expected a gut punch of an ending; instead it faded out with a whimper — though a dog who appears in the last thirty seconds was, genuinely, a highlight.

One suspects Brody could have chosen any project for his Broadway debut, and that he picked this one for its long, demanding monologues. For an actor looking to showcase his range, the appeal is obvious. His final monologue, however, goes on too long and ends up diluting its own impact. Ultimately, the play preaches to the converted. If you walked in opposed to the death penalty, you'll walk out the same. The same goes for the other side. It moves the needle far less than, say, "Dead Man Walking." Given that it's based on the true story of a man wrongly convicted, I expected to feel far more sympathy for the lead character than the writing managed to generate. Everything surrounding the play, the sets, the performances, the direction, was strong. And like many shows I review, it ran a bit long for me. Some judicious trimming could have sharpened the impact considerably.

I wanted to love this one. It just didn't deliver.