When a child dies, a mother unravels

THE disappearance of a child can plunge a parent into a spiral of chaotic and contradictory emotions. When 10-year-old Rhona vanishes on her way to her grandma's home, her mother Nancy (Karen Tan) finds herself swimming in a vortex of grief and guilt.

She starts to take an active role in an organisation dedicated to the search for missing children. But doing so only only seems to trap her further in her grief and confusion.

Years later, Ralph (Adrian Pang) is arrested and charged for abducting and killing seven young girls - including Rhona. Nancy once again undergoes a series of wrenching emotions: Should she stay angry at her child's killer? Should she move past the incident and rebuild her life? Should she, unthinkable as it may seem, meet Ralph?

In Pangdemonium's production of Frozen, written by Bryony Lavery, there are no easy answers to the question of how a parent can deal with the grief associated with a murdered child.

Nancy's emotions and intentions constantly shift despite herself. She is by turns vulnerable and inscrutable, amiable and unlikeable, good-natured and loathsome.

And although Ralph is the psychotic killer with a history of abuse, it is Nancy who remains an enigma throughout the play.

Even when psychiatrist Agnetha (Janice Koh) enters Nancy's life to help her get past her trauma, Nancy appears ambivalent about accepting that help.

Ralph, on the other hand, is plagued by neither ambivalence nor remorse. The play suggests that Ralph is mentally ill, throwing up the uncomfortable question of whether perpetrators like him should be held accountable for their actions.

With Pang playing Ralph brilliantly as something of a mildly-autistic overgrown boy, the question becomes even more perplexing.

Directed by Tracie Pang, Frozen boasts once again all the hallmarks of a Pangdemonium production: slick production designs, well-calibrated direction and uniformly strong performances. Even the two supporting performances by Chad O'Brien and an uncredited child actress feel essential. Tickets to the entire run of Frozen sold out before its opening night - a testament of Pangdemonium's reputation among theatre-lovers.

But Lavery's script is somewhat weaker than previous scripts the company has chosen to stage. Some monologues are too long and a few plot twists feel contrived. Agnetha's personal life is inessential to the main story, while Nancy and Ralph's intriguing emotional journeys end in a contrived fashion.

Where Lavery excels in is delineating her characters' emotions. There are many moments when you could feel the very fibres of Nancy's grief or Ralph's psychosis. These moments give Frozen its complex emotional authenticity, and perplex you long after the actors take their bows.

Frozen plays at the Esplanade Theatre Studio till Nov 9.

Tickets are sold out