FROZEN

All three actors in Lavery's drama about a serial killer convey emotion skillfully and powerfully, often in monologue--though Laila Robins's Agnetha is sometimes too theatrical and strident. The use of amplifier feedback to punctuate her speeches doesn't help. Her intense weeping at the play's start seems manipulative, and the revelation of her loss, anticlimactic, compared to Nancy's (Rosalind Ayres) loss of her murdered child. The central "frozen" metaphor is strained, and the speculation on evil and responsibility, commonplace. The real power lies in both Ayers's portrayal of a stricken woman coming to grips with life and Jeffrey Donovan’s chilling characterization of the killer's sick affection for little girls. W.M. 2006 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]