[1] Utilising a nonlinear structure the play weaves together the stories of two families living in the fictional new-town of Draylingstowe in Essex, with a plot that spans approximately twelve years.

A unique, pertinent, significant play by a major playwright.”[12] Kate Kellaway of The Observer wrote “I disliked this bleak, attention-seeking play so intensely that it must be an inverted compliment to its power,” criticising the characters for being unmoving and Ridley for “wackily throw[ing] in a monster, a clairvoyant and UFOs – the supernatural further debilitating credibility.”[13] Kate Bassett's review for The Independent stated that the script was “like several hamfisted plays jammed into one” and that the dialogue was “unconvincing.”[14] The Independent's Paul Taylor, felt that some reviewers had misunderstood Ridley due to his supposed reputation of producing “provocative” work: “It is not Ridley who is desensitised; it is his attackers in their fixed and laminated indignation.

They fail to take on board the generosity of spirit that impels his plays.”[15] Michael Coveney felt that some critics had missed the cathartic nature of the story and compared Ridley's writing to that of John Webster: “Ridley is in some respects the most Jacobean dramatist we have these days, toying with our tarnished sensibilities and vile instincts to such an extent that one or two reviewers have felt dirty and seriously demeaned while watching his new play.”[16] Regarding Ridley utilising a non-linear narrative, a number of critics believed that the play's disjointed form reflected the feelings of the characters.

Others also saw it as highlighting the play's themes, such as Neil Dowden: “As its title suggest, Shivered is about fragmentation, we see the break-up of families, friendships and community, as well as the shattering of certainties between reality and fantasy.”[11] Michael Coveney praised the narrative device writing “[It’s] the kind of daring formal experiment we see far too little of these days, and one that is here deployed with nothing short of absolute mastery.”[6] Stewart Pringle for Exeunt Magazine wrote at length of his mixed feelings because of the format, stating that Ridley's “ideas are potent, and they are brilliantly worked in the play’s best moments, but their failure to cohere, however intentional, leaves Shivered an often frustrating whole... an emphasis on disjunction rather than harmony, numbing the dramatic tension.” Despite this, he wrote that some of the scenes “are so skilfully wrought that you have to hold back the urge to applaud on the spot” but concluded “when the play finally closes there is a nagging emptiness, a disappointment.

Not so much less than the sum of its parts and more a refusal to sum them, Shivered never quite adds up.”[17] Some critics also felt that the second act was much weaker than the first, with A Younger Theatre reviewer Jack Orr writing “Ridley seems compelled to tie up the loose ends of narratives rather than to offer us the inner guts of his characters as initially promised” concluding his review: “A cracking first half act that falls lifelessly limp by the second.”[18] Premiere[21] 7 March 2012 at The Southwark Playhouse Theatre, London.Directed by Russell Bolam.