A NEW play looking at the disappearance of missing Suffolk man Luke Durbin has been given the seal of approval by his mother.

The LotToDo Theatre Company’s latest production, called The Missing, features content drawn from interviews with Luke’s mother Nicki, her daughter Alicia and his friends Alex and Zach.

All four went to see it performed recently at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden, London, and Ms Durbin in particular, said it was an incredibly emotional experience.

“No parent wants a play to be centred on their child because they are a statistic of ‘the missing’ in the UK,” she said. “However, every parent of a missing child does not want their child to be forgotten; publicity in various mediums ensures that their name is kept in the public arena.

“When LotToDo Theatre approached me I was slightly anxious as to how they could possibly construct a play about missing, ensuring it had the impact so that no-one in the audience walked away not understanding the many facets of the world of missing including the loved ones who are left behind. My anxieties were not necessary.”

Luke, from Hollesley, near Woodbridge, was 19 when he vanished after enjoying a night out with friends at Zest nightclub in Ipswich on May 11, 2006.

Tomorrow is his 26th birthday and although Ms Durbin is doubtful that her son is still alive, she is determined to find him whatever the circumstances and hopes the new play may help her get some answers.

He was last seen on CCTV in The Buttermarket area at about 4am on May 12. Despite numerous appeals on television and local newspapers as well as a number of possible sightings, and even two recent arrests, Luke’s disappearance still remains a mystery.

George Roland Evans, the actor who plays Luke, said: “Missing people in Britain is a frighteningly unreported issue.

“Theatre can be a very effective way of raising awareness and with The Missing we intended, and intend to do just that; raise awareness of such cases as Luke Durbin’s.

“We aimed to portray Luke’s story as an example of the many others like it, while retaining it’s strength as a story in its own right.”