Whatever you may think of the play itself, and it is by no means perfect, I doubt whether you will see such committed, high quality acting elsewhere this year, and not just from Nicola Walker, onstage for much of the evening, but from everyone in this hugely impressive cast.
Nick Payne’s new play, The Unbelievers, looks at how a family copes when the teenage son, Oscar, disappears one morning, whilst supposedly on his way to school. In particular it concentrates on how his mother, Miriam, deals with the situation, refusing ever to give up hope, ready to pounce on any potential lead, however suspect, the family and friends becoming weary of her constant struggle and longing for some sort of closure so that they can ‘move on’.
It is the sort of nightmare situation that most of just read about or see on our television screens, and it must be the ‘not knowing’ that eats into relationships over time, in this case a period of seven years.
Payne tells his story in a non-linear structure so that the audience is asked to mentally leap forwards and backwards in time with “no blackouts, no scene changes and no transitions”. In addition, there is no interval to interrupt the gradual build-up of tension, the piece running for 105 minutes straight through and, to be honest, and most unusually for me, I did not find it a moment too long: the performances being so strong! It is an exhausting, draining, watch, but nothing like as exhausting as it must be for those involved in this sort of event in real life.
Nicola Walker, calm one minute, ranting the next, is, as always, supremely watchable, with a charisma and poise that few actors have today. The greatest compliment I can give is to say that she is totally natural and never appears to be ‘acting’, doing and saying things as we can imagine we would, and, overall, holding not only the family, but the play, together.
Her husband, David, is no longer living at home, and one can see why: in fact, it is difficult to see why Miriam would ever have married him as he is obnoxious, over-fussy, petulant, with, apparently, few positive qualities! The ever-reliable Paul Higgins makes him into a real person, as well as a total pain! He more than deserves his new partner, Lorraine, a superbly stylized portrayal of social uncouthness by Lucy Thackeray.
There are also two children who have been traumatised, and clearly still are, by what has happened. Nancy, a fine performance by Alby Baldwin, dabbles in spiritualism in order to try to find answers whereas Margaret (Ella Lily Hyland) has found that the only way to move on is to find a boyfriend who will put up with her situation, and family! He is Benjamin, whom Harry Kershaw convincingly plays as being socially inept, especially when he bores everyone stiff with his treatise on the life of puffins, until Miriam puts in her oar! There are many moments of humour in the play which just reinforce the more serious and poignant moments, and the Puffin monologue is one such!
Others who also impress include Martin Marquez as Karl, Miriam’s first husband and now a priest. One can hardly be surprised that Oscar left home if one considers his mother’s choice of partner – twice!
Marianne Elliott has directed this play with a great sense of pace and certainly energy, but she always allows moments when it and the audience are able to breathe deeply, if not to actually relax and Bunny Christie’s set is of a house stripped to the bare bones so that we have to concentrate on what is going on – and there is much to concentrate on!
I said in my first sentence that The Unbelievers is not perfect, yet it is very powerful, very challenging, surprisingly subtle, yet “in your face” and superbly staged in every respect, especially by the ensemble cast. I am so glad to have experienced it – a play to remember for a long time, especially the next time I read or hear of someone who is ‘missing’ or ‘disappeared’.
Very highly recommended!
Review by John Groves
“I love my son. My son is alive.”
A teenager disappears. Time fractures. His mother will never give up hope.
The Unbelievers is a new play about the moments that shatter our world, and the ones that help us piece it back together.
Cast: Isabel Adomakoh Young, Alby Baldwin, Jaz Singh Deol, Paul Higgins, Ella Lily Hyland, Harry Kershaw, Martin Marquez, Lucy Thackeray and Nicola Walker.
Nick Payne – Writer
Marianne Elliott – Director
Bunny Christie – Designer
Jack Knowles – Lighting Designer
Nicola T. Chang – Composer and Sound Designer
Etta Murfitt – Movement Director
Charlotte Sutton CDG – Casting Director
Saffeya Shebli – Casting Director
THE UNBELIEVERS
Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court
10 October to 29 November 2025
