Now playing at the Royal Court Theatre until 29 November 2025, The Unbelievers has been billed as a deeply moving story about love and loss. 

Nicola Walker (Unforgotten, The Split) stars as a mother whose teenage son disappears - and who refuses to stop searching, no matter the cost. 

She's joined by a cast including Ella Lily Hyland (Black Doves), Paul Higgins (Line of Duty), and Esh Alladi (This Much I Know), with an all-star creative team led by designer Bunny Christie and composer Nicola T. Chang. It seems that The Unbelievers is one to watch - but what did the critics think?

The Unbelievers Critic Reviews

"Nicola Walker gives the performance of her career in Nick Payne's elliptical drama about a mother's grief darkening into fanaticism" - TimeOut

"Artistic Director David Byrne's programme cannily interweaves more formally audacious work with guaranteed big hitters and this latest play from Nick Payne confidently straddles both categories, starring as it does Nicola Walker (The Split, Unforgiven) in a performance of blistering potency." - The I Paper

"An astonishing performance of rage and grief from Nicola Walker is at the core of Nick Payne's play, about the family of a 15-year-old boy who has gone missing." - The Evening Standard

"Marianne Elliott's beautifully acted production and Christie's expressive set design draw us into Miriam's agonising limbo. Scenes cut across one another out of chronological order." - The Financial Times

"Nicola Walker is fiercely compelling in Nick Payne's elusive new drama." - The Stage

"It's a curiously static piece. Nicola Walker... is thoroughly persuasive as a woman who has exhausted all her inner resources and has little left to offer but anger, resentment and studied sarcasm. There's a memorable final scene where, as the family gathers, memories of the son she has lost are overwhelming." - The Times