Still and chilling tale of a family’s devastation

THEATRE FROZEN Park, N4

TAKE note — and banish all thoughts of animated Disney films — for this is the sort of small-scale gem that could easily slip under the radar in the face of noisier shows with better publicity budgets. Blueprint Theatre Company offers a scintillating revival of Bryony Lavery’s grimly compelling and multi-award-winning drama about the after-effects of the murder of a child.

There are just three characters on offer in a piece that digs into personal and psychological motivations: Nancy (Sally Grey), the mother of 10-year-old Rhona raped and murdered en route to her grandmother’s house; Ralph (Mark Rose), the murderer and Agnetha (Helen Schlesinger), a psychiatrist conducting research “into the frozen Arctic sea that is the criminal brain”. The work begins with monologues, which gradually elide into dialogues as the characters come into uneasy contact with each other.

There’s no knee-jerk hysteria about paedophilia here and Frozen is immeasurably the better for it. Instead Lavery lets the action unfurl sadly but elegantly down the years, detailing the quiet devastation of Nancy’s family and her troubled relationship with her elder daughter. A constant nagging question ripples the surface of the play: is justice less satisfying than revenge?

The piece strikes only one false note and that’s with its odd forays into the psychiatrist’s personal life. Otherwise, all is first-rate and it’s easy to see why the US recognised Frozen with multiple Tony Award nominations. Grey gives a notable performance as a bundle of resilience against all odds; it would be pleasing to hear more from this actress. Ian Brown makes up for the horrors of the recent Contact.com, his last show at this venue, with a still and chilling production that pitches its tone just right. Evidence of a slight thaw at the end is hugely welcome.

Until April 11 (020 7870 6876, parktheatre.co.uk)