by KYW's Bob Nelson

There are those heavy dramas, plays of "a dark subject matter," as this one is advertised, for which the word enjoyment seems misplaced.
 
Playwright Bryony Lavery has come up with a grim study of a mother's agonizing attempt to come to terms with her daughter's rape and murder at the hands of a serial killer. 

Under the title Frozen, you could call this: "Good study, passable theatre."
 
Philadelphia's Interact Theatre Company offers the area premiere of the play that was a hit in London and later on Broadway. 
  
It's a simple but impressively staged study of the psychological probing of a criminal's mind followed by a mother's decision to forgive the killer.

While we have a trio of competent actors, a set that's amazingly simple, and Whit MacLaughlin offers strong direction, there's something that's surprisingly mechanical about this attempt to inject humanity into the horrors of a shocking crime.

Frozen will play the Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom Street, through May 4th.