Theatre review: Frozen

Bryony Lavery is a writer whose name is attached to a lot of work, but it's often the text for a high-concept production like the immersive Kursk, where the script isn't necessarily the star. When the staging lacks something - as with the disappointing Treasure Island - I haven't seen her writing rise above it. So I was interested to see what is presumably one of the plays that made her name, 2002's Frozen, inspired by the surviving relatives of Fred West's victims. Nancy (Sally Grey) is a mother whose youngest daughter Rhona disappeared at the age of 10, but her faith that she's still alive keeps her going, even leading her to start a charity searching for missing children. Her hopes are finally dashed when serial killer Ralph (Mark Rose) is caught, and Rhona is revealed to have been one of his victims. Nancy's energies now go into wishing she could confront him and take revenge.

Theatre review: contact.com

A sex comedy takes a couple of dark and unexpected turns at the Park Theatre, in Michael Kingsbury's contact.com. Upper middle class couple Matthew (Jason Durr) and Naomi (Tanya Franks) have been married for 15 years, and though still seemingly comfortable in their relationship, have decided to try and get the spark back. They've registered on a swingers' website, and younger, South London couple Ryan (Ralph Aiken) and Kelly (Charlie Brooks) are coming round for a nice Friday night supper followed by some partner-swapping. After some initial awkwardness the night goes well - perhaps too well, as the next morning they can't quite face the prospect of their overnight guests leaving forever. Ryan and Kelly are invited to stay another day and night - who knows, maybe the whole weekend?