Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – On Broadway, uneven portraits of misunderstood outlaws: Adrien Brody in THE FEAR OF 13, Jon Bernthal in DOG DAY AFTERNOON

• By drediman
• April 16, 2026
• No Comments

With the arrival of the film-to-stage adaptations of The Fear of 13 and Dog Day Afternoon — the former an intimate documentary, the latter an Al Pacino vehicle — Broadway saw the continued debuts of A-list screen stars on its boards. In the case of these uneven new plays, the spotlight has been bestowed upon two time Oscar-winner Adrien Brody and Emmy-winner Jon Bernthal, both of whom coincidentally portray misunderstood outlaws in their entrée performances on the Great White Way. You can read my thoughts on their anticipated turns and the plays they appear in below.

THE FEAR OF 13
James Earl Jones Theatre
Through July 12

Last night, Lindsey Ferrentino’s stage adaptation of The Fear of 13 (RECOMMENDED) officially opened on Broadway at the James Earl Jones Theatre. Based on the 2015 documentary of the same name, the production is headlined by award-winning actor Adrien Brody (The Pianist, The Brutalist), who originally appeared in the play across the pond at the small but mighty Donmar Warehouse. In short, the drama tells the true story of Nick Yarris, who as a young man was wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit (i.e., the rape and murder of a woman), which resulted in more than twenty years of soul-crushing incarceration on death row. Ultimately exonerated due to the (much) later examination of DNA evidence, the play exposes the unfair and glaringly broken criminal justice system that would allow for such false convictions and glacial appeals. Largely narrated by Yarris in the first person, the play chronicles the wild and unlikely story that leads up to his imprisonment (bizarrely, the title of the play is never explained, at least in this stage version). Less convincingly, Ferrentino’s adaptation is also framed by the convict’s blossoming romantic relationship with Jacki — played by Tessa Thompson — a writer-cum-social worker who is allured by Yarris’s charm and beguiling ability to spin an engaging yarn. In his Broadway debut, Brody effortlessly brings multiple layers to his portrayal of a complicated man. Indeed, with rough charisma to spare, he ably bridges the various stages of Yarris’s expansive journey, interestingly working backwards from frustrated prisoner, to earnest romantic, to misguided delinquent, and finally to tragically abused child. In the far more straightforward role, Thompson gives a clear and confident performance as Jacki. David Cromer brings his steady directorial hand and a somber mood to the proceedings, shrouding large swaths of the stage in darkness much of the time. Although he largely keeps it to Brody’s storytelling to animate the production, Cromer occasionally opens the stage for the 10-member ensemble to fill in the larger picture of incarcerated life (particularly affecting is the short vignette involving a gay prison romance, which is anchored by Ephraim Sykes’ heartrending rendition of “I Wish It Would Rain”).

DOG DAY AFTERNOON
August Wilson Theatre
Through July 12

Then over at the August Wilson Theatre, Jon Bernthal (The Odyssey, The Bear) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Fantastic Four: First Steps, The Bear) — both Emmy-winners — are making their Broadway debuts in Stephen Adly Guirgis‘s stage adaptation of Dog Day Afternoon (RECOMMENDED), the 1975 film about a Brooklyn bank branch robbery gone awry — perpetrated by the characters Sonny and Sal in hilariously amateur-like fashion — that starred the singular Al Pacino (as Sonny). In adapting the film for the stage, Guirgis attempts to bring the grit and unfiltered comedy that have characterized such first rate plays as Between Riverside and Crazy and The Mother f—ker with the Hat. If the playwright’s work here isn’t quite as astute nor penetrating in conveying the raw underpinnings of human nature, I suspect it’s largely because he’s working within the confines of already established scenes and characters. As it stands, the play doesn’t quite have the center of gravity to ground the proceedings, particularly as it relates to the casualness in which events unfold and the portrayal of Sonny’s sexuality (no spoilers here). The staging by Rupert Goold — who is stepping down as the artistic director of London’s Almeida Theatre — attempts to combine the exposing naturalism of theater and the sleekness of Hollywood film-making, in the process making heavy use of David Korins’ show-stopping set, which moves cinematically between the interior and exterior of the bank. The end of the first act even immerses the audience themselves into the thrust of the narrative (again, no spoilers here). Thankfully, the central performances in the otherwise caricature-driven production are all quite good, starting with Bernthal’s voracious turn as Sonny. Although shades of Pacino in the performance are inevitable, Bernthal brings his own sex appeal and amped-up charisma to the role. In the smaller part of Sal, Moss-Bachrach brings an unhinged intensity that injects a much needed sense of danger to the staging. Also giving sympathetic turns and navigating the script’s drastic shifts in tone are veterans Jessica Hecht and John Ortiz as, respectively, the head branch cashier and the thoughtful detective who tenuously handles the circus-like armed robbery attempt.