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. As the lad’s mother Miriam she is outwardly calm, even bleakly humorous, but also as tightly sprung as a mousetrap, ready to snap and wound those closest to her at any moment.
This is a sincere, empathetic and surprisingly funny work from the award-winning writer of Constellations and We Live In Time, but it’s also relentless and lacking in tonal variety. Miriam and her family soldier on through the days and years, suspended between hope and despair, permanently braced for her next “mental” meltdown. Marianne Elliott’s production is well cast and sharply focused but also heavy-handed in places. It runs for 105 uninterrupted minutes: frankly, an interval would be a relief.
