Marin Gazzaniga’s “The Unbelieving” is based on select interviews from the 2013 book “Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind” by Daniel C. Dennett and Linda LaScola. The authors interview clergy from various denominations who have been grappling with their loss of faith in the divine and their fears of being hypocritical by not sharing their unbelief with their congregations/adherents. Currently playing at 59E59 Theaters, Marin Gazzaniga’s play is the most powerful treatise on the process of unbelieving this theologian/former cleric/theatre critic has encountered.

The original interviews were conducted by Linda LaScola over the course of four years between the fall of 2008 and summer 0f 2012 as part of a study on non-believing clergy conducted through Tufts University by LaScola and Dennett. In this dramatic iteration, Linda (a determined and resolute Nina Hellman) interviews ten non-believing clergy in anonymous hotel meeting rooms in various U.S. towns and cities. Andrew Boyce and Se Oh’s “generic” set and lighting designs serve the script with the requisite versatility.

Steven Cosson tightly directs the diverse cast of six who play clergy representing ten different faiths, all who have agreed to be interviewed by Linda the qualitative researcher. Their identity is not revealed, and they do not use their real names. This cast uniformly delivers authentic performances: they truly know their characters and the struggles they experience while their once strong faith erodes into non-belief. Adam (David Aaron Baker) is a forty-something white Church of Christ worship minister. Johnny (Jeff Biehl) is a white Pentecostal pastor of the same age. Elizabeth (Sonnie Brown) is an Episcopal priest nearing retirement. Carol (also Sonnie Brown) is an eighty-year-old former Catholic nun. Joe (Dan Domingues) is a middle-aged Mormon bishop. Michael (Dan Domingues) is a fifty-something Seventh-day Adventist. Dennis (Joshua David Robinson) is a Black, Former Charismatic Evangelical Preacher. Mohamed (Joshua David Robinson) is a Black, former Muslim Imam from Ivory Coast.  Sherm (Richard Topol) is a white Orthodox rabbi. And Jim (Richard Topol) is a fifty-something is a white, believing Episcopal priest.

As each clergyperson shares their stories of their strong faith being challenged by science, reason, objectivity, and real-word experience, the listener experiences their deep pathos as doubt slowly overcomes faith. The one believing Episcopal priest serves as a foil to this process by “hanging on” to his more traditional faith stance. As the clergy “bare their souls,” they also share their struggles with their sexual status, with their believing congregants/adherents, with their families, and with their superiors.

“The Unbelieving” raises profound enduring questions about belief and disbelief. Is there a divine being? If so, how does that entity interact with humankind? Does one need to believe? What happens if one chooses not to believe or loses one’s faith? Why does a believer choose to “serve” a divine being? What does it mean to be “called?” Are there root causes for unbelieving? How does one justify faith or lack of faith? Does one need to justify faith or lack of faith? These rich questions are universal and timeless and “The Unbelieving” brilliantly gives credence to those questions and strength to those who dare to ask them.

“The Unbelieving” is a must see for both the faithful and the faithless.