(Enlarge) Frank Vince as a disturbed killer meets the mother of his 10-year-old victim (Debbie Bennett) in "Frozen," now at the Spotlighters Theatre in Mount Vernon. (Photo by Ken Stanek)

Bryony Lavery's "Frozen," which is about the aftermath of the abduction and murder of a 10-year-old girl, does not exactly seem like it'll make for a pleasant theater date. The intense production at Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre makes a case for a play that mostly overcomes some creative problems of its own.

The grim situation involves the psychologically disturbed man who killed the girl, Ralph Wantage (Frank Vince); the slain girl's emotionally devastated mother, Nancy Shirley (Debbie Bennett); an academic expert on serial killers, Agnetha Gottmundsdotir (Stephanie Ranno); and the non-speaking role of a prison guard (Daniel Douek), whose silence is in sharp contrast to the talkative others.

Nominated for a Tony Award for best play in 2004, "Frozen" has a seriousness of purpose that can't be denied. There is clinical interest in its probing into Ralph's deranged mind; and there is emotional interest in tracking how Nancy goes through stages of shock, anger, depression and eventually what amounts to calm forgiveness.

The well-acted Spotlighters production directed by Michael Spellman conveys the play's intellectual and dramatic concerns. Debbie Bennett is particularly effective in putting across the mother's raw hurt. That sense of rawness is reinforced by a stark staging that involves few props other than a table and chairs.

However, the play itself might benefit from intensive sessions with a play doctor. The playwright breaks up the action into several dozen short scenes that bounce around in time over a 20-year period in San Francisco and New England. Some of these mini-scenes are dialogue exchanges between two characters, while other mini-scenes are monologues expressing an individual character's mental state.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that format, but many of the brief scenes are so similar to other scenes that one wonders if the play needs to be quite so busy in its construction.

For all its movement in time and place, "Frozen" often circles back to the same few observations. Once the audience has a basic grasp on the criminal situation, subsequent scenes mostly just work minor variations.

Although some theatergoers might feel they've gained additional insight into what makes Ralph tick, others are likely to feel that things like Ralph's musings about his tattoo-covered body are, er, skin deep when considered as prison armchair psychoanalysis. Admittedly, it would be tough for any playwright to get inside such a twisted skull, but Lavery offers glib explanations.

Equally glib is an explanation offered by Agnetha for her obsessive professional interest in such cases. She makes a metaphoric connection between her Icelandic heritage and her affinity for conversing with cold-hearted killers. Is climate destiny to that extent?

Such nagging worries prevent the play from packing the visceral punch that it seems capable of packing, but it does have enough powerful moments to make it worth seeing. Just brace yourself first.

"Frozen" runs through July 5 at Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre, at 817 St. Paul St. in Mount Vernon. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. There also is a Thursday performance July 2 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $18, $15 for senior citizens and students. Call 410-752-1225 or go to www.spotlighters.org.

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