'Frozen' playwright accused of plagiarism

NEW YORK, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A New York professor has accused British playwright Bryony Lavery, author of the Tony-nominated play "Frozen," of plagiarism.

Dr. Dorothy Lewis, also a leading criminal psychologist, alleges "Frozen" uses details from her book "Guilty by Reason of Insanity" and a New Yorker article written about her by Malcolm Gladwell, the BBC reported Monday.

"If you look at the incidents in the play, you'll see every one of them comes from the book or the article," said Martin Garbus, Lewis' lawyer.

"Frozen" reportedly contains at least 12 instances of overlap from either the book or the article, with one passage being "almost verbatim," Lewis said.

Lewis, who once interview serial killer Ted Bundy, has turned down repeated offers to turn her work into fiction because she had planned to write a screenplay on her own, the BBC said.

"Frozen," starring Swoosie Kurtz, Brian O'Byrne and Laila Robins, lost out for the best play Tony to "I Am My Own Wife."