After seeing Studio Theatre Secondstage’s production of Frozen, you may find yourself asking your friend to walk you to your car after the show, fearful that some predator is stalking about. You may wake up at 5 a.m., the victim of eerie dreams prompted by the show’s imagery. But the creep-out factor is worth it – Frozen, both in content and execution, is exceptional.

Frozen focuses on the kidnapping of a small child, and features three main characters: Ralph, the pedophile who has abducted the girl; Nancy, the mother who mourns her; and Agnetha, the psychologist eager to understand Ralph’s motivation and condition. The story is primarily told in monologues, but the device never feels artificial.

The play represents a compellingly complete picture of the issues surrounding the tragedy – a mother’s grief, a frank discussion of evil versus illness, the way a traumatic event can rip a family apart. But it doesn’t incorporate these various sides in order to prove a thesis, or to put forth an agenda. Frozen simply shows what could happen. The second act at first is a bit problematic – Ralph’s sudden shift to remorse seems at odds with what we’ve learned about him and from Agnetha’s research – but it also features one truly disturbing visual contrasted by a concluding scene of connection and poignancy. The script also contains a surprising amount of humor, some of it dark, and some of it simply character-driven.