FROZEN Opens At The York Little Theatre 10/9

Is it possible to forgive that which seems unforgiveable; and what is the emotional effect of forgiveness? These are the issues at the heart of Bryony Lavery's Tony-nominated play which opens at York Little Theatre on October 9, 2009.

Frozen deals with the coming together of a serial killer, the mother of his young victim, and a psychiatrist, 25 years after the crime. Winner of London's prestigious Barclay Award for Best New Play of 1998, Frozen was described by The London Times as "a major play...thrilling, humane and timely" and the Guardian labeled it "a compassionate play about grief, revenge, forgiveness and bearing the unbearable." It came to Broadway in 2004 where it was nominated for four Tony Awards.

Lavery had intended to explore the banality of evil and was reading thrillers about serial killers when she began work on the play that would ultimately become Frozen. But when she saw a TV documentary about the infamous 'Moors Murderers," who preyed on children, her focus shifted. 'I was horrified that none of the parents seemed to be able to move on at all," she says. 'I thought if they could forgive they wouldn't be so frozen." She started looking into cases where parents were able to forgive the killers of their children. She says all the characters in Frozen have different lonely chunks of ice inside them."

Frozen is directed by Aaron Dalton who has wanted to direct this play since he saw it on Broadway in 2004. "I remember being so mesmerized by the performances that I was scared out of my seat. The actor who played Ralph terrified me," explained Dalton. "I wanted to strangle him but I couldn't move." Dalton is generally an actor rather than director, but knew this play was special and wanted to work with such well-written material. As a public defender in Baltimore, Dalton sees a lot of the play in his work. He often sees clients with mental health issues--some of whom may not be able to tell right from wrong. "It's easy to say someone is a bad person," explains Dalton. "It's harder to ask, ‘could the behavior be controlled and is the person forgivable?'"

Dalton felt casting the right actors was the critical part of his job. "I had to find actors who I could ask to do things they may never have done before. Eric [Eric Stein as the serial killer Ralph] has to go to a very dark place and be comfortable with that. I'm seeing Ralph on stage, and not Eric." Dalton adds, "Audiences will decide whether or not Ralph is to blame for his actions. Was he born evil? Could his environment have made him that way? Everyone will look at Ralph in a different way."

Tatiana Dalton, wife of Aaron, plays as Agnetha, the psychiatrist. As a physician, Tatiana finds playing the psychiatrist very interesting. "She is very clinical like me," says Tatiana. "But she is a very pathetic creature in the story. She has lots of emotional baggage which affects her work and how she relates to the other characters." Cara Giambrone plays Nancy, the victim's mother, who rides a twenty-year odyssey of anguish and rage; and Brian Reinecke plays the prison guard.

Dalton recognizes the material may be too difficult for some people. He describes one scene where Nancy recounts burying the bones of her daughter. "We always need a few minutes after rehearsing that scene to recover," says Dalton. "This is not a show you enjoy-- it's a show you experience. But it's among the strongest works YLT has offered and if audiences go home talking about the issues in the play, we've done our job." Lavery says "The stage is where we rehearse our horrors. I always walk into the dark cave, but I also try to get out the other side with everybody."
Performances are on October 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 at 8 p.m.; and on October 11 and 18 at 3 p.m. Frozen is part of YLT's 2009-2010 Columbia Gas Season. Ticket prices are $10 - $20. More information and tickets are available by calling the box office at 717-854-5715, 11 - 6, Monday through Friday, or visiting www.ylt.org.

York Little Theatre is a nonprofit community theatre which values and nurtures the irreplaceable role of the arts and is dedicated to engaging and enriching its entire, diverse community in the dramatic arts through a broad range of professionally directed, entertaining, stimulating, and sometimes provocative performances.

York Little Theatre is located at 27 South Belmont Street, York PA at exit 19A of I-83, just south of Market Street. York Little Theatre is a proud member of The Cultural Alliance of York.

 

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