Justified indignation at the farce of the American justice system and strong advocacy against wrongful imprisonment make it natural to want to applaud. Fear 13. The same goes for Adrien Brody’s intense performance as Nick Yarris, who spent 22 years on death row in Pennsylvania for a murder and rape he didn’t commit.
Lindsay Ferentino’s one-act play is based on the 2015 documentary of the same name by British director David Sington, in which Yarris proves to be the commanding narrator of his often rhetorical story. But on stage, it’s a strange combination, with… a lot From direct, serious, monotonous speech and very few dramatic scenes that do not give it vitality.
The play was well received in its London premiere two years ago at the more intimate 250-seat Donmar Warehouse in a different production that also starred Brody. Supposedly, Broadway director David Cromer had to expand into a space with a capacity of just over 1,000 people, which doesn’t help the lumpy material.
Sadly, Tessa Thompson was not cast to play Jackie Miles, a volunteer whose visits develop into a relationship before eventually becoming Nick’s wife. Thompson’s performance is good, but the chemistry between the main characters is harsh and unconvincing.
While Jackie serves as a catalyst to coax Nick’s eloquent story from him and follow the crazy twists and turns of a failed court case and damaged DNA evidence, she also makes much of the play an exercise in dueling narratives. The cumbersome delivery system doesn’t give any of the actors much room to explore their characters’ psychological wiring or build dramatic momentum. A story that should be taut is instead chatty and static, and distinctly lacking in tension.
There’s also a strong sense that Ferentino – who has already flopped on Broadway this season with another doc adaptation, Queen of Versailles – The ideal form of matter has not been found. Nick is a lengthy narrator, explaining his history and the experiences he witnessed in prison, such that the character seems uniquely suited to a standalone show.
Jackie doesn’t offer enough of an alternative perspective. The cartoonish thuggish guards are a distraction. Other prisoners decorate the windows. The main exception is a short clip in which Nick recalls a sweet romance between fellow inmates Wesley (Ephraim Sykes) and Butch (Michael Cavender), giving the golden-voiced Sykes a song. But even Arnulfo Maldonado’s basic, strict style feels as if it was designed for a one-person play, creating a vast expanse of dead space around the actors, unlike the claustrophobic London theatrical staging.
Yaris’ story is a fascinating one and Brody certainly throws himself into the retelling, from Nick’s teenage years, where he would crash cars for drug money, to the traffic stop that went wrong, leading to his arrest and conviction on illegal charges. Reviews the mishandled court case, the destruction of key autopsy materials and the initial failed attempt to process DNA samples. Each setback means more years waiting in limbo, making time, like injustice, a major theme.
The drama opens up a bit when Nick recklessly seizes an opportunity to escape while being transported to his appeals trial. He ends up on a bicycle in New York City, savoring the short-lived taste of freedom. His tales are so parsimonious that Jackie is sometimes unsure of the line between truth and embellishment. But she later learned that his story was mostly true. The main discovery is a traumatic incident during which he was sexually abused as a child.
At one point, Nick’s long wait becomes so agonizing that he asks the state to schedule an execution. He was later acquitted of all charges after conclusive DNA evidence proved his innocence. This would constitute a strong indictment of a legal system where human life can be put on hold for more than two decades due to the inefficiency of law enforcement and judiciary. But Ferentino struggles to piece together the larger themes of the actual story, so even if Brody has some poignant moments in the closing scenes, the play is flat and emotionally ineffective.
It’s disappointing that two actors as talented as Brody and Thompson are making their Broadway debut in such a bland, poorly designed vehicle. In nearly two hours without a break, it numbs the brain and the butt.
Location: James Earl Jones Theater, New York
Cast: Adrien Brody, Tessa Thompson, Ephraim Sykes, Joel Marsh Garland, Jeb Krieger, Victor Cruz, Michael Cavender, Eddie Cooper, Ebony Flowers, Jared Wayne Gladley, Joe Joseph, Ben Thompson.
Director: David Cromer
Playwright: Lindsay Ferrentino, adapted from the documentary directed by David Sington
Set designer: Arnulfo Maldonado
Fashion designer: Sarah Lux
Lighting Designer: Heather Gilbert
Sound Designer: Lee Kenny
Presented by Seaview, Wessex Grove, Gavin Kalin Productions, Storykey Entertainment, Pam Hurst-Della Pietria and Steven Della Pietria.