Review-Frozen-Stylus Productions
3-10-13
By: Stephanie Ip
I was a bit discouraged when the lights dimmed at the beginning of the show and I looked around to see that I could count the number of attendees with two hands and still have spare fingers left. I was also told at the door that the show was two hours long with one ten-minute intermission. I briefly wondered if I would need chewing gum to keep myself awake for the entire performance.
But brief my worry was. Written by Bryony Lavery, the play tells the story about the disappearance of a 10-year old girl named Rhona, and follows the lives of the mother Nancy (played by Danni Cullen), the serial killer (played by Adam Harris) and the psychiatrist (played by Meg Teckman-Fullard), whose thesis about “Serial killing: a Forgiveable Act?” brings all three people together as they come to terms with the tragedy.
I might have been skeptical about a play where the majority of the lines were delivered through monologues, but I was proven wrong. Rather than sounding like a soapbox or a sermon, the actors were so compelling in their acting and their story telling that they alone, and a spotlight, were enough to command the stage.
The stage, in this instance, was superfluous. Stripped down to the bare essentials, it merely consisted of two chairs, a table and a projector. A pair of shears dangled at the side as an ominous-looking ornament.
The third opening monologue, delivered maniacally and feverishly by Ralph as he explains how he kidnapped Rhonda, had me gripped. There was a slight lull in the middle when the monologues about how different people cope with grief were heartbreaking, but slightly slow. At one point, I wondered whether intermission was cancelled.
Things picked up near the end of Act 1 and all through Act 2. When Nancy gives a monologue while she holds her dead daughter’s skull and later, scorns the notion of forgiveness, I was close to tears. I was close to tears again when Nancy visits Ralph and tells him she forgives him.
What moved me the most in the end wasn’t the mother’s grief (however deeply I felt for her), but the moment when Ralph attempts to write a letter to the mother to express his remorse. This character was one none of us thought to sympathize with, but his internal struggle, exemplified by Harris’s constant twitch, uncontrolled blinks, and frustrated screams brought home the fact that Ralph was as much a victim as the young murdered girls and their families were.
I overheard one of the audience members say that she didn’t have children, and she couldn’t imagine what mothers would go through watching this play. I had to agree. As I left the theatre and wiped my eyes, I wondered if this was the reason that kept people away from the opening night of this talented production of Lavery’s award-winning play.
Maybe the play’s topic was too depressing for a Wednesday night.
Frozen is playing at the McAulay theatre in Wanchai through Saturday. For more information, click here.
Comments
Peter Roberts
Adam is a friend of mine so I am probably biased.
04 October 2013
Not my cup of tea - I shall probably feel "Frozen" for weeks so thanks! But the best acting I have seen in a long time. All 3 actors. And I saw Spacey!Truth
Yes I am back and I am going to say something nice. This was top bracket theatre. More of these please
05 October 2013