Royal Court announces cast for The Unbelievers by Nick Payne
Published on Tue 19 Aug 2025The Royal Court Theatre and Playful Productions have today announced the full cast for The Unbelievers, a new play about family, memory and hope by Nick Payne. Directed by Marianne Elliott and designed by Bunny Christie it stars Nicola Walker as a mother facing the disappearance of her son. The cast will include Ella Lily Hyland who appeared in Netflix’s Black Doves and the BBC’s Towards Zero and Paul Higgins, best known for his roles in the BBC’s The Thick of It and Line of Duty and more recently Slow Horses.
The Unbelievers will run at the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from Friday 10 October – Saturday 29 November 2025 with a Press Night on Monday 20 October 2025.
The full cast announced today includes Esh Alladi, Alby Baldwin, Paul Higgins, Ella Lily Hyland, Harry Kershaw, Martin Marquez, Lucy Thackeray, Nicola Walker and Isabel Adomakoh Young.
‘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.
Playwright Nick Payne (Constellations, We Live in Time) returns to the Royal Court with a startling portrait of motherhood, faith, family – and the lengths we go to for those we refuse to forget.
Directed by Marianne Elliott (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Angels in America), designed by Bunny Christie (Company, People Places and Things) and starring Nicola Walker (Unforgotten, The Split). The lighting design is by Jack Knowles, the composer and sound designer is Nicola T.Chang, movement direction by Etta Murfitt and casting by Charlotte Sutton CDG.