Written for two theatres located in German and Welsh mining towns, 'Missing' is distantly inspired by the Grimm's fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel but more immediately by the question, 'What does it mean nowadays to grow up poor in an economically depressed town?'. Way tells the story from the viewpoints of all four characters - the dad, the stepmother, Hansel, a withdrawn and alienated teenager, and Grethel, his much younger sister who has a mental disability that leaves her vulnerable to bullies.