Never Fear 13
Unbelievably, in over twenty years of reviewing this is my first visit to the iconic Donmar Warehouse, and I am very pleased that I am reviewing Lindsey Ferrentino’s The Fear of 13, a play based on the Netflix hit documentary of the same name that highlighted the plight of Nick Yarris, a petty crook who spent 22 year behind bars for something he didn’t do – a review that took an unexpected turn, writes Michael Holland.
As I sat watching the auditorium fill up a man sat in the next seat and also began soaking up the atmosphere; Oscar-winning Adrien Brody was starring and had attracted a lot of attention.
’This is just like prison,’ said the stranger unexpectedly, leaving me lost for words. ’Those railings and that balcony are just like the landings on the wings in Wandsworth.’
‘Okay,’ was all I was able to muster up.
‘Look at those doors.’ He pointed at the stage and waited until he had my full attention. ‘Just like cell doors.’
I checked out the sturdy doors. ‘Right.’
Without any invitation to engage in conversation the man listed a catalogue of coincidences: ‘Let me tell you about the fear of thirteen – I was nicked on Friday 13th… my trial was in Court 13 and lasted 13 days… I then had to go back for sentencing on Halloween, that’s the 31st, 13 backwards!’
‘Don’t tell me,’ I ventured, ‘You got 13 years.’
‘I would have cut my own eyes out for 13 years,’ he whispered while staring at me with the eyes he didn’t have to cut out.
Just then men began running around the landing, alarms were sounding and a prison guard came through the sturdy door barking orders. ‘That’s exactly like the screws used to shout at me,’ he added before staying silent for the duration of the play.
The prison is in the Quaker state of Pennsylvania, so talking was not allowed except when talking to staff or visitors, and that’s how Nick Yarris (Adrien Brody) met Jackie Schaffer(Nana Mensah), a do-gooder volunteer who visited prisoners who had nobody to visit them.
Over the specified hour they were allowed each time they would make small talk but she knew she could never get to the crux of Nick’s crime; his silence on the topic, she felt, was a barrier to their friendship. Yes, he had lots of tales about jail and other inmates’ offences but never his own. It was rape and murder.
As their relationship developed over the months and years they become closer until they fell in love. It was a then that Jackie demanded to know what he was inside for, and it was then that he told her that he was not guilty of those heinous crimes.
As time moved on, so did forensic science and DNA testing became a way of proving whether a suspect was guilty or innocent. Nick told Jackie that the evidence in his case could be tested to prove that it was not him that raped the woman and, consequently, killed her as a witness. Alas, the penal system moves slowly in the USA so it was another eight agonising years before the innocent man saw freedom.
Brody commands the stage with ease just as his eyebrows demand sympathy from all those that are mesmerised by them. Mensah holds her own here and the pair are well supported by a cast who play just about everyone in their back-stories.
The Fear of 13 is ultimately a feel-good tale, but there are also heavy tinges of sadness. Plus, it crammed too much in, each life event became a tick-box list. Yes, it helped us get a better understanding of Nick and Jackie as people but the action never seemed to slow down enough for us to see feelings develop; we just had to take it for granted. Nevertheless, it is a powerful piece of work that needs a bigger stage and a longer run.
At the end, as the players took their bows, the screens showed a clip of Nick Yarris thanking everyone who had come together to make the play happen. As it finished a spotlight went up on a man in the audience – It was Nick Yarris, who then reiterated his joy at The Fear of 13 being received so well and added that since his release he has not dwelt on all those lost and wasted years but concentrated on being happy in his days of freedom – A motivational lesson we could all learn from. He got an ovation as exuberant as the applause for the actors.
Leaving the theatre, Yarris ran past me on the stairs and out into Covent Garden where he whooped and jumped around in the street and showed his elation for the play’s warm reception like no one was watching. He then ran off into the night.
Further along I saw him again, but now with the man who had sat next to me. Yarris was saying, ’Twenty years, man! That’s a lotta years,’ before he fervently shook his hand and headed off again. The man walked towards me and I acknowledged him with a nod. As we passed he said, ‘I’ll never fear 13 again.’
Donmar Warehouse, 41 Earlham Street, WC2H 9LX until 30th November.
Booking: www.donmarwarehouse.com
