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Adrian Brody and Tessa Thompson in
The Fear of 13.
Credit: Emilio Madrid |
The fear of the number 13 is triskaidekaphobia. But you wouldn’t learn that from Lindsey Ferrentino’s play The Fear of 13 now at the James Earl Jones after a London run. That’s because the definition is brought up in the documentary film directed by David Sington but not in the play which is based on the doc. Both works focus on Nick Yarris, wrongfully accused of murder. While awaiting execution in a Pennsylvania prison, Yarris labored to improve his vocabulary. The rare fear of the unlucky number was one of the many new definitions he acquired. In her otherwise moving and proficient adaptation, the playwright omits this detail leaving playgoers who have not seen the doc, now airing on Netflix, scratching their heads as to the title’s meaning. Perhaps the irrational phobia has to do with hero’s fear of being fated to wind up on Death Row with no hope of reprieve?Apart from this annoying omission, some overlong speeches and sequences, Fear is a powerful indictment of our justice system and a chilling examination of one prisoner caught up in it. Ferrentino adapted another documentary earlier this season, the musical The Queen of Versailles. In that misguided effort, it wasn’t clear how we were supposed to feel about the protagonist, Jackie Siegel. Did Ferrentino want us to admire Jackie for her determination to rise from her middle-class origins and attempt to build the largest private home in the USA or should we have disdained her for her materialistic values?
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Adrian Brody in The Fear of 13.
Credit: Emilio Madrid |
Yarris (a multileveled, appealing Adrian Brody) is a stronger, clearer central figure. The playwright reveals his character and backstory slowly through his jailhouse romance with prisoner-rights advocate Jacki Miles (compassionate Tessa Thompson). At first Nick comes across as a fabulist spinning incredible tales of petty crimes and outwitting the law. But we gradually learn his complete story though flashbacks, fluidly staged by David Cromer, aided by Arnulfo Maldonado’s ingenious set and Heather Gilbert’s scene-shifting lighting.
A few words on Moldanado’s versatile set: At first it appears to be just a dark, forbidding, multi-storied prison, but other environments magically emerge as in a pop-up book. Suddenly we’re in a Florida pawnshop or a cozy suburban living room with Cheers on the TV. The setting facilitates the flow of the narrative.
Oscar winner Brody makes an auspicious Broadway debut. He presents Nick as a charmer who could be a lying con man or an incredibly unlucky schlub. As his layers of cockiness are peeled away, he reveals the suffering, wounded child at Nick’s core. It’s entirely believable that the empathetic Jacki (played with warmth and tenderness and just the slightest bit of neurotic self-doubt by Thompson) would fall in love with him. A large, mostly male supporting cast ably fills in the remainder of the roles, with Ephriam Sykes standing out as a lovesick gay inmate and Nick’s crafty accomplice in a series of teen heists.
Ferrentino does overindulge in melodramatic excess, particularly in the play’s final half-hour which could stand some cutting. Despite these flaws and the lack of an explanation for the title, 13 delivers a fascinating and heart-felt true story highlighted by a pair of powerhouse performances.
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Alden Ehrenreich and Madeline Brewer
in Becky Shaw.
Credit: Marc J. Franklin |
Becky Shaw is another fascinating character who may or may not be a con artist. In director Trip Cullman’s fast-paced and sharp-edged revival at the Hayes Theater for 2nd Stage, Gina Gionfriddo’s complex examination of relationships among five dysfunctional people affected by a disastrous blind date, becomes a riotous comedy of manners and errors. After premiering at the Humana Festival of New Plays in 2008, the play opened Off-Broadway in 2009, also in a 2nd Stage production, for a three-month run and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Gionfriddo’s razor wit and incisive observations on the fraught nature of human connections is a welcome addition to the Broadway season.
Though she is the title character, Becky is not the main focus. Becky, a damaged bundle of need, is the detonating device setting off a series of explosions in a fractured family. Suzanna is in a manipulative, co-dependent, sort-of relationship with her kind-of adoptive brother Max, a hard-nosed bulldog of a financial manager. Perhaps to get away from Max, whom she has ambivalent feelings for, Suzanna marries sensitive Andrew, Max’s polar opposite. When Andrew sets up his clingy co-worker Becky with the brutish Max, everyone’s life is thrown into chaos. There’s also Suzanna’s mother, the similarly-named Susan, who is dealing with the money mess left behind by her late, possibly closeted gay husband and currently involved with a larcenous, much younger man.
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Lauren Patton and Linda Emond in
Becky Shaw.
Credit: Marc J. Franklin |
Gionfriddo makes each member of this confused quintet a rainbow of contradictions (none are black and white) and the skillful cast and Cullman bring out all of their shades. Madeline Brewer’s Becky is like a pitiful puppy begging to be petted and not kicked, but ready to bite if she believes she’s been ill-treated. Alden Ehrenreich is hilariously sarcastic as Max as he shoots down what he regards as soft-headed sentimentality, yet movingly devastated when his vulnerability is finally exposed. Lauren Patton effectively captures Suzanna’s conflicted loyalties, as she is torn between her husband and Max. Patrick Ball humorously documents Andrew’s valiant attempts to be both a true friend and a loving husband, an insurmountable task. Linda Emond exhibits exquisite comic timing, landing each of Susan’s stinging quips solidly. David Zinn’s attractive set cleverly captures multiple settings in this sparkling yet tart comedy.
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Ali Shawkat and Peter Friedman in
You Got Older.
Credit; Marc J. Franklin |
You Got Older is another revival which allows audiences to experience an insightful piece on family relations they might have missed. Clare Barron’s quirky, surrealistic play had a brief run in 2014 at the Here Arts Center, winning an Obie Award for playwriting and receiving several Drama Desk nominations. Anne Kaufman returns to direct this revival at the Cherry Lane Theater. Alia Shawkat plays Mae, a 30-ish lawyer staying with her Dad (Peter Friedman) while he undergoes cancer treatments. The kink is Mae has just broken up with her boyfriend who was also her boss, so she’s out of a job, too. While coping with these complications and not knowing which direction her life should take, Mae fantasizes about a idolized, sadomasochistic cowboy (mysterious Paul Cooper) who intrudes into her waking life. Dream-like reveries alternate with harsh depictions of reality and everyday occurrences such as discussing gardens and acknowledging birthdays. Shawkat and Friedman underplay their roles with sublime subtlety, and Kaufman’s staging smoothly flows from comedy to tragedy.
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Shaun and Abigail Bengson in My Joy Is Heavy.
Credit: MArc J. Franklin |
One final review: In this opening-dense, pre-Tony-deadline month of April, I managed to squeeze in My Joy Is Heavy before it closed after a short run at New York Theater Workshop. In this exuberant autobiographical musical, The Bengsons (Abigail and Shaun) recount their attempts at getting pregnant with a second child during the COVID lockdown. Heartbreak and wonderment are depicted as they raise their son, write songs, and deal with Abigail’s chronic pain. Hopefully, this zestful celebration of the pain and ecstasy of marriage and parenthood will pop up again like Becky Shaw and You Got Older.
The Fear of 13: April 15—July 12. James Earl Jones Theater, 138 W. 48th St., NYC. Running time: two hours with no intermission. telecharge.com.
Becky Shaw: April 6—June 14. 2nd Stage at the Hayes Theater, 240 W. 44th St., NYC. Running time: two hours and 20 mins. including intermission. 2st.com.
You Got Older: Feb. 24—May 3. Cherry Lane Theater, 38 Commerce St., NYC. Running time: 100 mins. with no intermission. cherrylanetheater.org.
My Joy Is Heavy: March 17—April 12. New York Theater Workshop, 79 E. 4th St., NYC. running time: 70 mins. with no intermission.
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