Frozen

Synopsis

One sunny evening, 10-year-old Rhona goes missing. Her mother, Nancy, retreats into a state of frozen hope. Agnetha, an American academic comes to England to research a thesis Serial Killing - a forgivable act? Then there's Ralph, a loner with a bit of previous who's looking for some distraction... Drawn together by horrific circumstances, these three embark upon a long dark journey which finally curves upward into the light. Winner of Best New Play, TMA Awards 1998.

Our Review:

4 July 2002

In 1980, ten-year old Rhona is abducted and murdered by a serial killer. This is the trigger by which ordinary lives are changed forever by an extraordinary event.

Bryony Lavery's outstanding play is essentially a series of monologues spoken by Rhona's mother, Nancy (Anita Dobson), Ralph, the serial killer (Tom Georgeson) and Agnetha, the Icelandic-American criminal psychologist interviewing him for her research (Josie Lawrence). The isolation of the monologue is a fitting way for these three to tell their stories, for each is frozen by circumstance and state of mind and the process of thawing is supremely painful.

For 20 years after Rhona's disappearance, Nancy keeps hope alive by imagining her daughter growing up and founding a self-help group to trace missing children. Then a man is arrested and Rhona's remains are found. The hate that replaces hope is equally paralysing.

At the heart of the play is Nancy's route from hatred to forgiveness. Amongst her co...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 12 August 2002:

Considering the subject matter of this production I feel uncomfortable saying I enjoyed it. However, I was compelled from start to finish. Horrowing, gripping and some what disturbing in places, I was still drawn in by it. The cast were superb and I have to say that I was moved by this theatrical experience....

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