''Frozen'' is a play by
Bryony Lavery that tells the story of the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl, Rhona Shirley. The play follows Rhona's mother and killer over the years that follow. They are linked by a doctor who is studying what causes men to commit such crimes. The themes of the play include emotional paralysis and forgiveness.
In 2019, ''Frozen'' was listed in ''
The Independent'' as one of the 40 best plays ever written.
Productions
The play was first performed at
Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1998 and won the Best New Play Award from the Theatrical Management Association. It later made its debut at the
National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre on 3 July 2002.
The play was revived at the
Theatre Royal Haymarket
The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foot ...
starring
Jason Watkins,
Suranne Jones and
Nina Sosanya for a strictly limited season from February 2018.
''Frozen'' opened
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
in February 2004 at the Manhattan Class Company Theatre starring
Swoosie Kurtz,
Brían F. O'Byrne
Brían Francis O'Byrne (born 16 May 1967) is an Irish actor who works and lives in the United States. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his role in the miniseries ''Mildred Pierce'' (2011) and won a BAFTA TV Award for his role in ...
and
Laila Robins. It transferred to
Broadway in May and closed in August 2004.
["Talkin' Broadway Regional News & Reviews - "Frozen" in Southern Florida"]
talkinbroadway.com, October 24, 2004 ''Frozen'' was nominated for a
Tony Award for Best Play in 2004, and earned a
Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play (Brían F. O'Byrne).
Plot and characters
The story is set in present-day
England and involves three main characters: a
serial killer named Ralph Wantage, who kidnaps and murders a young girl; the murdered girl's mother, Nancy Shirley; a New York
psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...
, Agnetha Gottmundsdottir, who travels to England to examine Ralph. The three lives slowly intersect — and the characters gradually change and become "unfrozen" as they come to terms with the idea of forgiveness.
The script begins in
monologue
In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...
s, each person showing his or her side of the story; the audience sees each person's story intertwine as they connect with one another.
Allegations of plagiarism
In September 2004, media sources around the world (including ''
The Times'', ''
The Observer'', ''
The New York Times'', and the
Associated Press) reported allegations that Lavery had
plagiarized significant portions (nearly 675 words) of the play from a 1997 ''
The New Yorker'' article by
Malcolm Gladwell about psychiatrist
Dorothy Lewis, and from Lewis' own book ''Guilty by Reason of Insanity'' (1998).
Lewis claimed that ''Frozen'' was based in large part on her life and that the play lifted both themes and verbatim passages from both sources. However, after interviewing Lavery, Gladwell wrote a second ''New Yorker'' article in which he characterized Lavery's appropriation as "permissible borrowing." Lavery, for her part, acknowledged that all three characters were drawn heavily from external sources. For the character of Ralph, she drew on the book ''
The Murder of Childhood
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' by
Ray Wyre
Ray Wyre (2 November 1951 – 20 June 2008) was a pioneer in the treatment of sex offenders.
Born in Hampshire, his work as a probation officer in prisons brought him into contact with some of Britain's most dangerous violent and sexual offende ...
and Tim Tate. For the character of Nancy, she drew on an article in ''
The Guardian'' by
Marian Partington
Marian Partington (born 21 February 1948) is an English writer, and the sister of Lucy Partington, who was abducted by Fred and Rosemary West on 27 December 1973 and murdered by them in the final days of 1973 or the first days of 1974.
In May 2 ...
, whose sister
Lucy had been murdered by the serial killers
Fred and
Rosemary West. And, for the character of Agnetha, Lavery drew on the Gladwell article. "I wanted
he playto be accurate", she told Gladwell.
Gladwell - Something Borrowed
Nov 2004
Reviews
*" big, brave, compassionate play about grief
Grief is the response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or some living thing that has died, to which a bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, grief also has physical, cogni ...
, revenge, forgiveness and bearing the unbearable." -- '' The Guardian''
The ''TalkinBroadway'' reviewer of a Florida production wrote: " powerful drama ... about three people living the human condition... a story that needs to continue to be told."[
]
Notes
References
*Malcolm Gladwell
""Damaged""
'' The New Yorker'', February 24, 1997
Tony-nominated playwright Bryony Lavery accused of plagiarism
Associated Press, September 25, 2004
*Jesse McKinley
Jesse Underwood McKinley (born 1970) is an American journalist who is currently Albany bureau chief at ''The New York Times'' and covers the COVID-19 pandemic.
Early life and education
McKinley grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the son of J ...
''Playwright Created a Psychiatrist By Plagiarizing One, Accusers Say''
'' New York Times'', September 25, 2004, Page B-1
*Malcolm Gladwell
''Something Borrowed: Should a charge of plagiarism ruin your life?''
'' The New Yorker'', November 22, 2004
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frozen (Play)
2004 plays
British plays
Works involved in plagiarism controversies