Missing Dan Nolan

A teenager disappears after a night out with friends. The people who knew him tell the story in their own words.

Mark Wheeller's acclaimed verbatim play is an OCR GCSE Drama set text and a powerful choice for GCSE, BTEC and A-Level study, school performance and ensemble work.

• OCR GCSE Drama set text - widely studied by secondary school Drama students
• Authentic verbatim theatre – created entirely from the words of Dan’s family, friends and community
• Flexible ensemble casting – perform with a large cast of up to 18, or with four performers using doubling
• Ideal for classroom study – explore documentary theatre, social realism, ethics, responsibility and storytelling
• Based on a true story – a compelling way to examine how real events can be transformed for the stage
• Suitable for young performers – particularly useful for Key Stage 3/4, GCSE, BTEC and A-Level Drama
• Revised edition – includes additional material about the original production and creative process

Fourteen-year-old Dan Nolan went missing on 1 January 2002 after a night out fishing with his friends.

In Missing Dan Nolan, playwright Mark Wheeller pieces together the events surrounding Dan’s disappearance using the real words of the people closest to him. The result is a powerful multi-voiced drama that captures the shock, uncertainty and grief experienced by a family and community searching for answers.

Through testimony from friends, family and others involved, the play explores personal safety, responsibility, friendship and the importance of looking out for one another. It also provides students with an accessible and compelling introduction to verbatim and documentary theatre, raising valuable questions about the ethics and responsibilities involved in putting real lives on stage.

With its authentic dialogue, flexible casting and strong ensemble opportunities, Missing Dan Nolan is widely suited to classroom study, examination work, youth theatre and school performance.

This revised 2020 edition includes a new foreword by Mark Wheeller reflecting on the original production, a new interview with the original cast and a note on the original lighting design by Danny Sturrock.

Suitable for: Key Stage 3/4, GCSE, BTEC, A-Level and adult performers
Duration: approximately 60 minutes
Cast: up to 18 performers, or 2 female and 2 male performers with doubling