Reviews: What Do Critics Think of The Fear of 13 on Broadway?

The play stars two-time Oscar winner Adrien Brody opposite recent Golden Globe nominee Tessa Thompson.

April 15, 2026 By Meg Masseron, Margaret Hall

Adrien Brody and Ephraim Sykes in *The* *Fear of 13* (Emilio Madrid)

The reviews are rolling in for Lindsey Ferrentino's The Fear of 13, which officially opened on Broadway April 15 after beginning previews March 19.

Playing the James Earl Jones Theatre and directed by David Cromer, the production stars two-time Oscar winner Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) and recent Golden Globe nominee Tessa Thompson (Hedda), both making their Broadway debuts leading the cast.

Based on a documentary film by David Sington, the work tracks real-world figure Nick Yarris, a man convicted of murder who then petitions the court not for an appeal, but for an execution date.

Brody and Thompson are joined by Ephraim Sykes (Ain't Too Proud), Michael Cavinder (Annie), Eddie Cooper (Dead Outlaw), Victor Cruz (Blue Bloods), Eboni Flowers (Eureka Day), Joel Marsh Garland (Orange is the New Black), Jared Wayne Gladly (Aladdin), Joe Joseph (English), Jeb Kreager (Mare of Easttown), and Ben Thompson (Waitress).

Read the reviews below.

1 Minute Critic (Matthew Wexler)

Cititour (Brian Lipton)

Culture Sauce (Thom Geier)

The Chicago Tribune (Chris Jones)

Deadline (Greg Evans)

The Guardian (Richard Lawson)

The Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney)

The New York Times (Helen Shaw)*

New York Theater (Jonathan Mandell)

New York Theatre Guide (Joe Dziemianowicz)

The New York Post (Johnny Oleksinski)

New York Stage Review (Frank Scheck, David Finkle)

TheaterMania (Zachary Stewart)

Theatrely (Juan A. Ramirez)

TimeOut (Adam Feldman)

Variety (Aramide Tinubu)*

Vulture (Jackson McHenry)

The Wrap (Robert Hofler)

The Wall Street Journal (Charles Isherwood)*

*This review may require creating a free account or paid subscription.

Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.

The Broadway bow partners with the Innocence Project, supporting its work to free the innocent and prevent wrongful convictions. One of Yarris' real attorneys, Christina Swarns, is currently the group's executive director.

Ferrentino's past work includes Ugly Lies the Bone, Amy and the Orphans, This Flat Earth, and The Year to Come. On screen, she wrote 2019's Not Fade Away. Ferrentino has also served as the book writer to the musicals The Artist and The Queen of Versailles, the latter of which made a short-lived Broadway bow earlier this season.

The creative team includes scenic designer Arnulfo Maldonado, costume designer Sarah Laux, lighting designer Heather Gilbert, sound designer Lee Kinney, hair wig and makeup designers Rob Pickens and Katie Gell, music supervisor and arranger Bryan Carter, voice text and dialect coach Gigi Buffington, and fight and intimacy directors from Unkledave's Fight-House.

The associate director is Neal Gupta. Casting is by Caparelliotis Casting. Yarris served as a story consultant for the production, and the production management is conducted by Juniper Street Productions, with Richard Hodge as production stage manager. James Viggiano is the company manager, and general management is by 101 Productions LTD and Christopher Taggart.

Visit TheFearOf13Broadway.com.