Frozen Theatre Preview

Bryony Lavery's Frozen is a depiction of the emotional dialogue between three main characters involved in a brutal paedophilic murder. Dealing with emotions rather than actions, each character is revealed to be frozen within their own way of dealing with a horrific crime. A young girl is abducted on the way to her Grandmother's house, and the play's narrative deals with the passing of time and the way it affects those who were part of her life, after she disappears. While the subject matter of the play is not strictly staple viewing for the festive period, it is one of the most interesting-looking plays of the season. Three characters - a mother, a psychiatrist and the murderer - play out 31 scenes that develop from stark, individual, lonely monologues into a more interactive real-time, and although the play's structure keeps its audience very much at arms length, it manages to take an acceptably sensitive perspective on a nasty subject that would otherwise be difficult to watch.

Gerda Stevenson is a strong lead, who should be able to deal with a mother's growing sense of loss beautifully. Joanna Tope's Agnetha will be more precisely executed, with a balance of clinical curiosity and doubt. It will be well worth catching this award-winning play with this particular cast before it finishes its run.