Frozen

Inside was fine but the cover looks gross and is covered in stains, this is not “good” quality as advertised, I would say it is closer to “acceptable.”

A lovely partner play where it's difficult to tell who the protagonist is. This brilliant work is a great starting point for anyone who's interested in theatre.

Dynamic scene study and monologue material!

The writing is so good, so powerful. Could not put this down. Ranks up there with Doubt, Rabbit Hole, and Proof.

This is a truly disturbing play, but also an intensely interesting one. Lavery avoids all the Hollywood serial killer cliches, concentrating instead on a bundle of related issues which include the lasting collateral damage inflicted on the families of child-killers' victims, the possible biological causes of these crimes, and the moral and legal implications of judicial punishment. 'Frozen' (the title refers to the murderer's mind, incapable of empathy, as well as to the condition of the victim's relatives, frozen for years in traumatised grief) was influenced by psychiatric research into the causes of child rape and murder which, it appears, may lie traumatic events in the childhoods of the perpetrators: neglect, physical abuse and injury to the head as a result of blows or accidents. Apparently, Lavery was influenced by a number of neurological studies carried out in the 1990s (the play was first performed in 1998) and a long 'New Yorker' article by Malcolm Gladwell called 'Damage' which focuses on the work of an American researcher upon whom the character of Agnetha is evidently based. If you are interested in the background to 'Frozen', it is well worth reading this article. I saw a recent production of the play at the Park Theatre in London and found it very disturbing and strangely moving. The three characters mostly speak in soliloquy to the audience, and in the case of Ralph, the child-rapist/murderer, this was truly unpleasant: a boastful, unrepentant narcissist whose account of luring the little girl into his van ("Hello . . Hello. . Hello. .") made my stomach turn. Particularly poignant -- and devoid of mawkish sentimentality, it should be noted -- is the character of Nancy, the murdered child's mother -- an ordinary person caught up in an extraordinary, grotesque permanent nightmare. Despite her calm, almost off-hand manner, she is in pieces, her marriage shattered (parents of murdered children rarely stay together), her relationship with her surviving daughter fractured, her life devoid of any purpose save that of seeing the murderer suffer and running FLAME, a charity with the purpose of supporting parents like herself. The third character in 'Frozen' is Agnetha, the psychiatrist, whose calm professional manner conceals her own inner anguish, and whose relationship with the incarcerated Ralph becomes uncomfortably fraught in its own way. Lavery's play succeeds on the page, but really needs to be seen on the stage to convey its full impact. It's not an experience you'll easily forget.

great

Exactly what I was expecting.

Great Play.. Fast Delivery