Frozen River
Book by Stephen Wallem
Music and Lyrics by Danny Musha and Stephen Wallem
In the summer of 1892, the enigmatic daughter of a New England bank president captured headlines around the globe: Lizzie Andrew Borden was arrested for the grisly murders of her father and stepmother, both found in the family house with multiple hatchet wounds to their necks and faces. How could a proper Victorian woman be capable of such a brutal crime? As one attorney stated to her, “You have neither the craft of the assassin nor the cunning and deftness of the sex.” Yet there she was, jailed for almost a year until her trial began…and today’s obsession with true crime was born.
Using the gruesome Borden murder case as a backdrop, Frozen River takes an unsettling, darkly satirical look at the American Victorian woman; her oppressed societal role, the barbaric medical practices such as shock treatment therapy implemented for even the most minor of health issues, the dismissal of sexual assault, the labeling of every grievance as mere “hysteria…”
Did Victorian society itself drive a soft-spoken young woman to a savage double murder?
Cast
Nine women, twelve characters, ages ranging from adolescent to mid-sixties. The all-female cast creates portraits of the never-seen male characters.
Period and Location
Fall River, Massachusetts and nearby locations. Between the summers of 1892 and 1893.
Set Requirements
Minimal unit design that accommodates seamless transitions from the Borden house to various locations in and around Fall River.
Orchestrations
Keyboard I, keyboard II, cello, flute/clarinet, and percussion.
Running time
Two hours. Can be performed with or without intermission.
The Legend of Lizzie Borden
On August 4th, 1892, the bodies of wealthy bank president Andrew Borden and his second wife, Abby, were found in their home at 230 Second Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. They had been brutally murdered by hatchet blows to their heads.
The youngest daughter, 33-year-old Lizzie, was immediately accused, being the only other person known to be inside the house. The servant, Bridget Sullivan, was outside washing the windows at the time of the murders.
The scandalous crime captured worldwide attention, and Lizzie was imprisoned for eight months before her trial even began.
Nearly a year after the murders, Lizzie was finally acquitted of the crimes due to a substantial lack of evidence. She returned to Fall River to live with her older sister, Emma, until her death in 1927.
She never discussed her ordeal.
The murder weapon was never found, and the mystery remains unsolved to this day.
