Nick Payne‘s latest play The Unbelievers, tells the story of a missing child and a grieving family. It is a message of hope, of faith and ultimately the human condition.
The Unbelievers is now playing at the Royal Court Theatre
Recently separated couple Miriam and David’s fifteen year old son, Oscar, has gone missing. Older daughters Margaret and Nancy are not only having to deal with the break up of their parents but also of their missing brother.
How long can a family hold out hope before they have to move on and accept their child is probably never coming back? With no signs and no body, everyone is left in limbo, waiting.
After seven years the police have done all they can. They family have tried everything – from contacting the underworld, to praying. David wants to hold a memorial but Miriam refuses to give up on her missing son.
What did I think of The Unbelievers at the Royal Court Theatre?
In true Nick Payne style, The Unbelievers has no blackouts, no scene changes and no transitions. Set in the family living room, the actors sit at the back of the stage in a waiting room type area. As the play progresses, it feels suffocating, like the ceiling is lowering, crushing the family and caging them.
Olivier Award winner Nicola Walker (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time) gives a powerful performance as the grieving mother and Martin Marquez is charismatic as ex husband Karl.
Lucy Thackeray gives a well needed dose of comedy as David’s new partner Lorraine. It feels like we have been transported into Abigail’s Party and she has a rather amusing conversation with geeky boyfriend of Nancy, Benjamin (played by Mischief Theatre founding member Harry Kershaw) about baby puffins – pufflings. However, other than this amusing exchange, the character has no real need to be in the play. Nor really do we need the characters of the two daughters. They don’t really add anything to the story and feel a little pointless.
Is The Unbelievers at the Royal Court Theatre worth seeing?
The Unbelievers is good but it is a story that we all know – there’s nothing particularly new or exciting in it.
A new play by Nick Payne (Constellations), directed by Olivier Award winning Marianne Elliott (Company, War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Angels in America) and set design by Olivier Award winning Bunny Christie (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, People, Places and Things, Company) clearly has aspirations for a West End transfer.
But with theatre becoming so expensive in recent years, for people to part with their money, good isn’t good enough. In a society full of true crime lovers, the play could have explored the investigation side a little deeper, although the point is clearly about the family. I was excited to get my teeth into this show but I left, hungry for something more meaty.
★★★
West End Wilma
The Unbelievers plays at the Royal Court Theatre until 29 November 2025
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