2008 Woodie Awards
'Frozen' acting heats up Zoo stage
Colin Foss
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Arts
"Frozen" is a play about self-discovery, but not of the lighthearted Disney Channel variety. It focuses on the events following the arrest of a pedophilic serial murderer as well as on the people drawn to him and his disorder. It traces both an uncomfortable expedition into a diseased mind and presents natural humans emotions that show up in the most inhuman places.
British playwright Bryony Lavery begins her play with a collage of monologues. The three isolated characters do not meet onstage until their stories seem to cross paths - each of them remains "frozen" in their own consciousness until dialogue brings them together. The structure of the play, therefore, decided its theme. Initially, these monologues were unrelated, and so were difficult to paste together to form something coherent. Lavery's choice to present "Frozen" as a series of monologues necessarily separated the action, but a viewer could not focus long enough to enjoy the nuances of these first scenes. When the dialogue began, I was so entranced by its richness that I felt I had been ill-equipped for it at the beginning of the performance.
What made this final "coming together" more revelatory was the clearness of the performance. Rishabh Kashyap '08, in the role of the killer Ralph, gave the performance the dexterity and intelligence that his role desperately needed to check the audience's contempt for him. Kashyap did not allow his character to be easily categorized and analyzed on a psychologist's couch (like so many Freud-fed audiences would). The pathos that he exacted was a testament to his formidable understanding of both his role and his acting abilities.
Along with Kashyap, Stephanie Strohm '08 has been working on her last theatre project at Middlebury. In "Frozen," Strohm presents some of the material that she has expressly chosen to tackle. Her character, Agnetha, works in New York as a psychologist who travels to England in order to study Ralph. Agnetha's inclusion in the play seemed cumbersome or poorly qualified. The play includes some scenes between her and Ralph high with sexual tension - not because Ralph's advances are unwanted, but because Agnetha finds herself appallingly interested by them. Is her interest a product of a diseased Eros? Lavery lets us question these scenes, but it detracts from some of the genuinely connective moments between the two of them. When Agnetha brought Ralph a cookie, I was left wondering what kind of intimacy she is looking for.
British playwright Bryony Lavery begins her play with a collage of monologues. The three isolated characters do not meet onstage until their stories seem to cross paths - each of them remains "frozen" in their own consciousness until dialogue brings them together. The structure of the play, therefore, decided its theme. Initially, these monologues were unrelated, and so were difficult to paste together to form something coherent. Lavery's choice to present "Frozen" as a series of monologues necessarily separated the action, but a viewer could not focus long enough to enjoy the nuances of these first scenes. When the dialogue began, I was so entranced by its richness that I felt I had been ill-equipped for it at the beginning of the performance.
What made this final "coming together" more revelatory was the clearness of the performance. Rishabh Kashyap '08, in the role of the killer Ralph, gave the performance the dexterity and intelligence that his role desperately needed to check the audience's contempt for him. Kashyap did not allow his character to be easily categorized and analyzed on a psychologist's couch (like so many Freud-fed audiences would). The pathos that he exacted was a testament to his formidable understanding of both his role and his acting abilities.
Along with Kashyap, Stephanie Strohm '08 has been working on her last theatre project at Middlebury. In "Frozen," Strohm presents some of the material that she has expressly chosen to tackle. Her character, Agnetha, works in New York as a psychologist who travels to England in order to study Ralph. Agnetha's inclusion in the play seemed cumbersome or poorly qualified. The play includes some scenes between her and Ralph high with sexual tension - not because Ralph's advances are unwanted, but because Agnetha finds herself appallingly interested by them. Is her interest a product of a diseased Eros? Lavery lets us question these scenes, but it detracts from some of the genuinely connective moments between the two of them. When Agnetha brought Ralph a cookie, I was left wondering what kind of intimacy she is looking for.
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posted 5/04/08 @ 2:34 PM EST
A great show with really brilliant acting by everyone. Well done. Thank you.
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