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Afterword by Mark Wheeller

Written for the first publication of Missing Dan Nolan, (as opposed to Dan Nolan – Missing) March 2004.

It is now just over two years since Dan’s tragic disappearance. Much has happened in that time… but the news for Dan’s family is not good. All their (and our) hopes of Dan returning home seem to have been dashed as remains of a foot, found last year on a remote beach in Swanage, were identified as Dan’s. This version of the play has been updated to account for these tragic developments… but Dan’s family and friends remain supportive of all the play can continue to do.

“Although we’ve lost our Dan, I feel very proud. All the issues about Dan’s disappearance and the safety issues surrounding teenagers are in the play and it must continue to raise awareness.”

Pauline Nolan

The Oaklands Youth Theatre continued to perform the play in various places until October 2003. The cast have all moved on to other things now… but this period in all our lives will remain clear in our collective memories as a time where we did something that could help and support the Nolan family in their time of need. Each performance we did was updated (with new lines for the committed cast to learn for each and every performance) with the new information as it came to light.

The cast who performed those initial productions enabled me, not only to update the story, but to experiment with the structure of the way I presented the play. They, in turn, became involved in a production that won numerous awards and gave them huge confidence in their ability in the performing arts. The motivation of performing this true story in front of those who had lived through it could never have been greater and, I believe, led them to perform to a higher standard than any other sort of production could have ever achieved. For me this is one of the main reasons I have found verbatim theatre to be such a force for student theatre performances. All are wanting to go on to further their careers in this field.

Missing Dan Nolan is not only a slightly different title, but is a much tighter script. I will continue to add updates to my website (and future editions) if they occur… but the basic structure will now remain in place. It is, I believe, an important play which is very accessible for teenagers as it concerns them so directly. More schools than I could ever have hoped for have adopted it as a study or performance text. It has only been available for a year and its immediate popularity has led to this new edition being printed. I hope that it goes on to spread its wings even further to provide a long lasting and fitting testament to Dan Nolan’s all too brief life.