In ‘The Unbelievers,’ Faith and Understanding Go Missing

Last week brought the New York premiere of “The Heart,” a luminous musical that follows two parents in the aftermath of what I described in my review as the most awful kind of tragedy: The death of a child. But another production that just arrived off-Broadway reminds us that there is something at least as bad, and possibly worse.In “The Unbelievers,” a play now making its national bow at Manhattan Theatre Club’s City Center, we’re introduced to David and Miriam Wright, an estranged couple whose teenage son has gone missing, and track them in scenes that go back and forth between just after the disappearance, a year later, and seven years later. The boy, named Oscar, never turns up.That may sound like a spoiler, but “Unbelievers” — the latest effort from British playwright Nick Payne, whose acclaimed previous Broadway works include “Constellations” and “A Life” — derives its tension not from the question of whether Oscar will be found but from examining how the people who love him cope with his lingering absence and the accompanying dread and uncertainty. Those include David and Miriam’s other child, Margaret, and Nancy, who identifies as non-binary, from Miriam’s earlier marriage to Reverand Karl Khoury, a vicar. Karl’s vocation was clearly not a random choice on Mr. Payne’s part: As its title suggests, “Unbelievers” is above all else an examination of faith and of its limits.Miriam is an avowed atheist. Discussing her previous marriage with the detective constable overseeing the search for Oscar, she reveals that both she and Karl had been heavy drinkers, musing, “We got sober and he found God and I found David.” Yet it’s Miriam who clings to the belief that she will see her son again, eventually even turning to alternative spiritual approaches as David seems to accept the likelihood of the worst outcome.While “Unbelievers” is essentially an ensemble piece, Miriam is the juiciest role, her journey being the stormiest and most wrenching. Lauren Ambrose, best known for her film and television work but also a veteran of several Broadway productions, is a knockout in the part, fearlessly summoning not only this mother’s grief and rage but the flashes of confusion and pettiness that arise as she grapples with unimaginable trauma.Under the sensitive direction of Knud Adams, whose credits include the world premieres of Pulitzer Prize winners “English” and “Primary Trust,” the other actors deliver supple, vigorous performances, even as sections of the play drag a bit. Tom Riley relays David’s frustration with Miriam while also bringing tenderness to the part and evincing this father’s own despair, particularly in a harrowing scene with the detective, played by a gentle, graceful Marjan Neshat.Hadi Tabbal brings a similarly easy warmth to Karl, whose fundamental decency draws him closer to his ex-wife during her ordeal. As Margaret, Elizabeth Yeoman has a few heartbreaking moments and, like the others, a few funny ones. Nina Ross lends a quieter but affecting urgency to Nancy and also sings, in a beautifully ragged voice, lovely original songs by Will Butler, an alumnus of the popular band Arcade Fire whose other composing credits include the Tony Award-winning play “Stereophonic.”In “Apple Tree,” Nancy sings, “Thought the wind it spoke to me/From out beyond eternity/But I was wrong.” The lyrics are fitting, since “The Unbelievers” is ultimately about the struggle to make peace with what we cannot know, however impossible that may seem.

In ‘The Unbelievers,’ Faith and Understanding Go Missing

In ‘The Unbelievers,’ Faith and Understanding Go Missing

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