New Play EMPTY explores the often-overlooked reality of unwanted Childlessness
‘Becoming a parent changes you completely.
Not becoming a parent changes you completely, too’
Empty, the debut play from journalist and author Robert Nurden (The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent on Sunday), tackles head-on how ‘choosing’ parenting is rarely a question for men, and why society so often doesn’t know what to say to someone who is childless not by choice.
West End Wilma caught up with the team of EMPTY, a new play by ex-journalist Robert Nurden which premieres at The Drayton Arms Theatre from 7 -11th July and centres around the often overlooked reality of unwanted Childlessness.
Writer Robert Nurden starts by telling us more about the show:
Robert, this is your debut play after a long career in journalism. Can you tell us where the story of EMPTY came from?
After 40 or so years in broadsheet journalism, mostly writing what people asked me to write, suddenly on retirement I was free to choose what I wanted. The result was a book called I Always Wanted To Be A Dad: Men without Children, a largely autobiographical memoir about being a man who was childless not by choice. It is supported by the testimonies of other men. It caused a bit of a stir in the press because of its unusual theme. Clearly, it had sparked off something.
I wanted more of this, so I dived into a totally new format for me: the theatre. I wanted to create electricity around this issue which called for even deeper treatment: the two-hander on stage is the perfect place for that. Luckily, my gamble paid off and this contentious and sad scenario makes, I believe, for a successful, even stunning, piece of theatre.
Can you tell us more about the Childless community?
When I identified as being childless by circumstance, rather than through infertility, I felt incredibly alone. I was full of pain and regret but there was no one to share it with. There was no writing out there for or by men. I felt isolated.
But gradually I found out about the childless community, a network of support groups throughout the UK set up by volunteers to help people cope with this dark, largely unrecognised, corner of the human soul. Childlessness is usually seen as a woman’s issue but men feel that regret and deprivation, too. The go-to festival – Storyhouse Childless – is an annual event every September when people from all over the world gather for the weekend to listen to talks, take part in panels etc. Last year, I was honoured to have my play Empty performed there.
Performers Hannah Douglas (Lapwing, BIFA Nomination), Sue in In The Heat of That Night (Vaults Festival) and Paul Kemp (Wonderland (Nottingham Playhouse); Imperium (RSC / Gielgud Theatre); Richard III (Arcola) tell us more about their play and their characters…
Hannah, tell us more about the character of Amy?
Amy is a married secondary school teacher, who has turned up at her ex’s- Dave – house after 8 years on a slightly mad and impulsive whim! She has always wanted to become a mother – in fact that’s the reason they broke up – but she’s been going through multiple rounds of IVF… which are not working. Amy’s trying to grapple with the emotions that go with that – with not knowing what her life is going to look like – has she given up hope? Does she still want to try? What would it look like if she was childless?
She is quite impulsive, she’s fiery and also incredibly nurturing and caring.
What excites you about playing her?
Amy is an incredibly complex character who is going through something incredibly complex. I feel a real privilege, as an actor, to be part of such an important discussion – It’s something that isn’t talked about enough – being childless not by choice. It’s such an emotional subject, so I feel really compelled to tell this story and do Amy – and all the people going through the same thing as her – justice.
Paul, what can an audience expect when they see Empty?
A funny, fascinating and emotional exploration of childlessness through the experiences of two ex-lovers, meeting for the first time in many years. The play is full of dramatic twists and turns as each character grapples with their sense of loss, regret, betrayal and the possibility of redemption.
Tell us more about your character in the show…
Dave has spent his life believing that he never wanted children. But in his late middle age has come to the realisation that not only does he now desperately want to be a dad, it has become an all-consuming obsession that has come to define his very existence.
OFFIE Nominated Director David Furlong’s past work includes Who is Claude Cahun? at Southwark Playhouse, Drainin’ The Swamp on UK tour and he directed TEMPESTS, as Young Vic Jerwood director in 2021 about invisible, mixed identities as part of FIVE PLAYS. He tell us more about the process of the show and what is at it’s heart…
David, tell us what it’s like working on a piece of new writing?
I’ve been lucky that after years of working on repertoire material, the last 4 plays I directed were new writings in collaboration with the playwright often in the room. Their input is always invaluable and I’m a very collaborative director who actually enjoys turning to the writer to ask”is this what you intended?”
Trust gets established a lot through the questions I ask. Once both have established trust, it becomes a fruitful dialogue with the playwright who can also let himself be surprised by some directions, or even by some unexpected ideas arising from the script !
How does this work compare to other pieces you have directed?
Robert’s play is the most eye-opening play I’ve ever had to direct. It addresses such an unspoken taboo that the creative team met members of the childless-not-by-choice community on our first day in order to understand the life-impacting stakes of the topic we were going to explore and present to the world for the first time in theatre. It calls for nothing artificial, no dramaturgical or narrative devices which you can play with like in a historical pieces that I have done, it’s even more truth-seeking , to the point that we can feel that Robert was a former journalist: I have to approach the play partly like non-fiction, like a verbatim testimony for the audience.
Tell us more about the relationship at the heart of the show?
As the play is a two-hander between a man and a woman, it could easily be seen as a date-gone-wrong play but the play is everything but that. The characters deal with an unspeakable grief, in spite of which are both trying to be incredibly human to each other and that makes both the characters and the audience reach a rare level of compassion.
Why should people come and see the play?
If like me you are drawn to discover invisibilised stories, and you want to experience theatre that challenges and surprises you by its content as much as by its theatrical invention, come and see Empty by Robert Nurden.
EMPTY plays at Drayton Arms Theatre, London from Tuesday 7th to Saturday 11th July 2026.
