A triumvirate of characters present questions of forgiveness and justice in Bryony Lavery’s play, which centres on a mother’s search for her daughter who has disappeared, a paedophile’s search for his next victim, and a doctor’s search for an understanding of individuals who commit crime. Intense. Producer Sam Nicholls sits down with her fresh-faced cast:

How have you found being a newcomer to the Cambridge theatre scene?
Xelia Mendes-Jones: To be honest, kind of stressful!
Eleanor Lind Booton (Boots): Yeah, theatre here involves an incredibly fast turnaround. We got our parts three weeks ago, which has given us a very short time to learn lines and create the show.
Rachel Weiss: Frozen is the same length as the other freshers’ plays but there are only three of us saying all of the lines!
Boots: It is exciting though, there is always so much going on here in Cambridge. With so many plays to see, it’s a really dynamic environment.

What are your thoughts on the arguments that frame the production? As Agnetha says: “Serial Killing ... a forgivable act?”
Rachel: That’s a tough question. My character, Agnetha, is attempting to find an answer through science, but her approach is flawed. I think the important thing is that forgiveness is for the person who is doing the forgiving, rather than necessarily for the person who is being forgiven.

Do you think it matters that you are younger than the characters you are playing? Does it create a different dynamic?
Xelia: It makes the whole experience more interesting and certainly more challenging. Obviously we don’t have to interpret our act from an outsider’s perspective, but it definitely introduces the idea of interplay between age and youth, innocence and experience.

Boots, you are playing a male character, Ralph. How do you think having an actor of a different gender affects the role?
Boots: It definitely adds certain nuances. The point of Ralph is that the audience can never get to the bottom of his character or get to know him. Having a male character played by a female actor helps to explore this ambiguity; Ralph remains a mystery right until the end.
Rachel: I also think the play is about trying to break down social stereotypes. People often associate a certain gender with serial killers, so it is progressive to subvert any expectations people might have.
Xelia: In a production of Frozen I have seen before, Ralph was immediately made more intimidating purely by the fact he was a man. He was a physically imposing figure. Having a girl play him is definitely subversive, breaking this down.

What’s been your favourite part of the production process so far?
Xelia: My favourite part is yet to come; nothing compares to the actual performances! But probably so far it’s been the research that goes into creating a character, analysing their background and exploring their personality.
Boots: For me it’s been exploring a character who is so different from my own character. Trying to portray that truthfully, and bring out the humanity of the serial killer, has been an incredible experience.
Rachel: I do actually identify with my character a bit more – Agnetha is an American psychologist, I’m American, studying psychology, and last year I actually did a paper on people with psychopathic tendencies. It’s interesting to see some of the ideas I researched being played out on stage.

Frozen is running from Tuesday 17th - Saturday 21st November at the Corpus Playroom, 7pm