The Unbelievers
11 November 2025
Royal Court Theatre
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Nick Payne’s new play The Unbelievers, currently on at the Royal Court Theatre until 29 November, follows a family in the aftermath of their teenage boy going missing. Jumping through time from just after the disappearance to years after the fact, scenes switch up throughout the one hour and forty minute show.
Mother Miriam (Nicola Walker) and father David (Paul Higgins) have recently separated when their teenage son Oscar suddenly disappears. The couple’s other older children, Nancy and Margaret, struggle with the disrupted family life and fears for their brother’s safety while their parents fall apart at the seams. Over the years, David begins to accept and grieve, while Miriam becomes completely obsessed with supposed sightings and the hope that Oscar is still out there somewhere, while their now adult children suffer with their mother’s spiralling mental health and their own grief.
The staging of The Unbelievers is stunningly presented, with the family room being the main location of the play. A grey, almost sterile room with a few pieces of furniture and no adornments. While the back wall of the room leads into a darkened waiting room corridor, with a plethora of chairs and even a water cooler. This waiting area is occupied by the characters who are not currently on stage, harkening to the pervasive feeling of helplessly having to wait for news, having lost control or power to do anything about the situation itself. It’s a gorgeously bleak visual that underlines the harsh reality of the complete loss of control or ability to impact the outcome of those whose family members have gone missing.
Walker is stunning in the role of Miriam, combining the fragility of a grieving mother with the volatile anger of a woman not believed or taken seriously by those around her. With her signature severity, there is impressive depth and variety in Walker’s acting, bringing a mother in crisis to life on stage.
The examination of a family in crisis delves into the myriad different ways in which people cope with emotional extremes, the deep impact parents still have on their older children, the disparity between wanting to hold on to hope but having to continue ones own life, and the unravelling of those left without answers. The Unbelievers is an intense show that offers few answers, rather it is a study in grief and the fragility of family ties. A beautifully heartbreaking journey into broken minds and hearts, this production is an emotional trip through a family’s nightmare.
