Frozen
The City Theatre Company, through Nov. 26
Running time: 1 hr, 55 min
There’s a new theatre company in town, the City Theatre Company, and its premiere production is excellent – a simple and powerful staging of a drama, which, despite its difficult subject matter (a pedophilic serial killer) and the controversy surrounding it (accusations of plagiarism levied at playwright Bryony Lavery), has become one of the most widely produced plays in America.
Frozen is a study of forgiveness. The play charts the intersection of a psychiatrist, a serial killer, and the mother of one of his victims. It runs the gamut from documentary to drama; even some classily muted humor finds its way into the piece. The psychiatrist, Agnetha, believes that many serial killers commit “crimes of illness” rather than “crimes of evil,” that neurological damage prevents them from comprehending the moral implications of their acts. This theory reveals itself as we watch Agnetha study Ralph, the serial killer. Meanwhile, the mother, Nancy, tries to come to terms with the murder of her daughter. The emotional monologues are never gratuitous, and the psychological analysis is never dry. Lavery’s masterful use of style allows one to be intrigued by this play rather than flat-out devastated.
Travis Tinnin (City Theatre Company’s managing director) and Kathy Rose Center give admirable performances as Ralph and Nancy. Both actors are able to hold stillness and silence. Their work is specific. They never over-amp the grief. Every point of their performances bespeaks a trust in the director, the audience, and the material. That kind of magnitude is gorgeous on stage. Dropped pins would have made deafening roars in the house the day I saw the show. In particular, Tinnin’s remarkable physical work manages to be at once terribly monstrous and terribly human. Ashley Frankson, playing Agnetha, does good work with a difficult part. She must guide us through the intellectual landscape of the piece. Though at times her performance felt forced, she struck a strong balance between compassion and dispassion.
Company Artistic Director Andy Berkovsky, who directed the production, is clearly capable of drawing great performances out of his actors. He keeps things simple, wasting nothing, employing everything. With the play composed of about 30 short scenes and monologues, the transitions must be addressed; Berkovsky turns them into subtle entrances. The play opens with the chilling sound of a shovel scraping against cement. When the lights come up, we see Ralph standing frozen, back to the audience, holding a shovel. The sound continues. So every scene begins, growing out of the darkness. By the middle of the first act, Ralph has been put in jail. Berkovsky keeps the character trapped on a platform on the stage, his presence becoming an uneasy backdrop when Nancy and Agnetha have the spotlight. The only element of this production that felt out of the place was the canned music that would periodically cut in under the text.
The majority of Frozen is absolutely fascinating. It goes strong all the way through to the middle of Act II, when Nancy and Ralph finally meet in his jail cell, in a scene that is beautiful and gripping; one can feel the audience holding its collective breath for fear of what might happen. Unfortunately, after this, the play unravels a bit. Lavery turns away from the bold proposal that Ralph – who at one point says, “I’m just sorry it’s not legal … killing girls” – cannot feel remorse. It was this very lack of regret that made the character fascinating, that allowed us to see him in a different light. But in the end, Lavery contrives a “happy,” cathartic ending. Ralph grows a heart, and so the play loses a bit of its own. But the City Theatre Company’s production keeps you engaged through to the last shred of the last fading light.
This article appears in November 24 • 2006.