The Unbelievers

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My previous experience with Nick Payne’s plays is mixed: I hated If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet but liked Constellations and found Incognito interesting. I tried to approach his family drama now in previews for its American premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stage 1 with an open mind. The main draw for me was Lauren Ambrose, whose career I have followed from young daughter on “Six Feet Under” to Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. It was somewhat of a shock to see her playing an unglamorous mother of three. She plays Miriam, whose 15-year-old son Oscar has disappeared. We meet her two ex-husbands, Rev. Karl Khoury (Hadi Tabbal) and David Wright (Tom Riley), her two young adult daughters, Nancy Khoury (Nina Ross) and Margaret Wright (Elizabeth Yeoman), Margaret’s boyfriend Benjamin (Jack DiFalco), Police Constables Jay Shah and Angela Fisher (Jaspal Binning and Brittany Bradford, both of whom also play another small role), Detective Constable Elizabeth Hawkins (Marjan Neshat) and Lorraine (also Neshat), David’s new love interest. The action takes place over a period of seven years in short scenes that are unfortunately scrambled out of sequence, making it difficult to know where in the story the scene you are watching fits. It took me the first 20 minutes or so just to figure out who was who. The play depicts the different effects Oscar’s disappearance has on different family members. The title apparently refers to those who refuse to consider the possibility that Oscar is still alive, which, after seven years, includes everyone but Miriam. There are a few moments of levity along the way and a pair of songs sung by Nancy for reasons unclear, but the emphasis is on Miriam’s fierce, relentless behavior that boils over at times to frightening proportions. We learn very little about any of the characters other than how they react to Oscar’s disappearance. The inclusion of a second ex-husband for Miriam seemed to me completely gratuitous. The ending leaves us completely up in the air. On the positive side, the acting is excellent. Ambrose throws herself into the role to a point that she is truly terrifying at key moments. Neshat is very strong as Lorraine. The puzzling scenic design by Paul Steinberg turns the right third of the stage into four pairs of pews for part of the audience. Although Karl is a vicar, there is nothing in the play to justify this strange choice. The costumes by Enver Chakartash were suitable. Director Knud Adams might have done more to differentiate the scenes to clarify when they occurred. There is room for a thoughtful play about the effects of the disappearance of a family member on those left behind and their need to let go and move on with their lives. Unfortunately, this is not the play. Running time:110 minutes without intermission.