A funny moment in Lindsey Ferrentino’s play, The Fear of Thirteen, occurs when Adrien Brody as Nick Yarris, a man wrongly convicted of rape and murder, says to a lying cop: that performance deserves an Academy Award. Of course, the actor has two, so the line got a big chuckle from the knowing crowd on opening night last week. 

Landing in a drama, inspired by the true-life story of a man who served time in prison for twenty-three years waiting for DNA tests to exonerate him– among many other frustrations, the line signals so much of what is wrong with the American system of justice, affecting many on death row. Based on a documentary under the same title, the show foregrounds a love story. A young student, Jacki Miles (Tessa Thompson), making notes for a project, visits prison, and falls for Nick as they bond over Catcher in the Rye.

The real Nick Yarris, comfortably seated in a box overhanging the stage, took in the superb performances. Both Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson tossed their bouquets of roses to him. Now out of prison for six years, his drama does not end. Homeless, he said, he’s living out of a car. Despite the documentary and this show, he wants justice for the victim. Surprisingly he’s donated his time and all remuneration toward the pursuit of truth for the woman who was raped and murdered. Incarcerating him, he said, the courts did not pursue the true criminal. Justice, as they say, was not served.

At a swank party at the Pool Room at the former Four Seasons, Adrien Brody sat with his partner Georgina Chapman, and his parents Sylvia Plachy and Elliot Brody. Mamie Gummer, F. Murray Abraham and many others gathered around to celebrate justice the way theater can serve it—awarding excellence as TONY season heats up.