Murder, child sexual abuse and grief are big, difficult subjects; Bryony Lavery’s Frozen offers a bold, humane take on redemption and letting go of suffering.

Directed by Felicity Clements, this production of Lavery’s 1998 play opens with monologues from three protagonists. Tess Gill plays Agnetha, a US psychologist studying the imprisoned serial killer and child sex offender, Ralph (Des Potton). Carrie Lambe plays Nancy, mother of one of Ralph’s victims, who sets up an organisation for missing children in the vain hope of finding her daughter.

With echoes of the Madeleine McCann and Sarah Payne cases, and more recently the outpouring of rage towards convicted child-killers Mick and Mairead Philpott, Frozen asks if it’s possible or helpful to forgive.

Gill’s Agnetha presents a scientific theory about the physical differences in the brains of victims of child abuse who go on to abuse. A convincing argument for pity, this ultimately asks more questions than it answers, with Ralph’s new empathy manifest as a separate physical ailment.

Three strong performances convince of the intensity of emotion along with the ultimate, albeit damaged, humanity of perpetrators of the most heinous crimes.