Bryony Lavery’s multi-award-winning play Frozen opens at Birmingham REP this week in its first major production for more than a decade.
The play was originally developed at the National Theatre Studio. This new production will be presented by Fingersmiths and the REP.
A cast of deaf and hearing actors will bring Fingersmiths' visual and physical theatre style to the stage, giving the play a new dimension.
The plot features ten-year-old Rhona going missing on the way to her grandmother’s house. Her mother Nancy retreats into a state of frozen hope.
Agnetha, an American criminal psychologist, comes to England to research her thesis Serial Killing: A Forgivable Act? Then there’s Ralph, a loner who’s looking for some distraction.
The lives of these three characters slowly intersect as they embark on a long, dark journey through remorse and forgiveness.
With each character being performed by two actors, the story is said to have double the impact, allowing the range of emotions in the play to be presented in different ways as the characters work together to tell their stories.
Birmingham REP commissioned Frozen which was first performed in 1998. It won the TMA best new play award. It was produced on Broadway in 2004 where it was nominated for four Tony awards.
The new cast includes Jean St Clair, Neil Fox-Roberts, Deepa Shastri, Hazel Maycock, Mike Hugo, Sophie Stone and, appearing on film, David Ellington and Tyrone Huggins.
Fingersmiths are Jean St Clair and Jeni Draper. Their combined passion is to push the boundaries of how BSL and spoken or written English are presented on stage.
Frozen is designed by Jo Paul with lighting design by Ian Scott, sound design by Becky Smith and video design by Benjamin D Cooper.
It runs at the REP from Friday (7 February) until Saturday 15 February before going on tour.