DNA by Dennis Kelly

Routes to Revision

Iona Towler-Evans

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781786821171
• eBook ISBN:
  9781786821188
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literatur
• Subtopic: Britisches Drama

This book is designed to engage students in active responders to the play DNA by Dennis Kelly. It incorporates creative and reflective tasks and devices, to help them make sense of the play for themselves. The book provides individual/ pair or group tasks which are motivating, active and engaging for young people. The text will be accompanied throughout by images/ illustrations related to the play in performance.

1

A Way of Looking at a Play

When you last played a computer game were you thinking about how it was designed?

Probably not; you were probably just enjoying the game. Designers of computer games take us on a journey. We might meet a monster, a dragon, and find ourselves in a dungeon. There, we could come across obstacles from which we hope to be rescued but we might be in danger of meeting another monster. Just as the computer game designer puts the game together as a structure, a playwright creates a structure for us as an audience to respond to. The computer game designer usually gives us a choice of options to follow, unlike the playwright whose creation has mapped out the journey for us.

It’s not about whether you liked it or not

For the purposes of an examination question, we have to go beyond simply enjoying the experience of watching a play. We have to be cleverer than that: we need to know how the play was created and written, how it was designed and constructed and its overall effect – not whether or not we liked it.

The playwright’s intentions and our responses

The playwright will have their reasons for writing and constructing the play in the way they choose, and you will have your responses to it – but their reasons and your responses may be different, of course. As Dennis Kelly himself suggests, once the play is performed in public, it is out of his control, and you may discover ideas he hasn’t actually intended or considered. For example, Kelly says of DNA that ‘it is not a play about bullying.’ As far as he is concerned, the bullying has already happened, before the play starts. You of course may interpret some of the episodes differently and find ones where bullying exists.

The playwright’s perspective

Whatever Kelly’s intentions and whatever our response, we need to be mindful that he structured the play in a particular way and for particular purpose and effect. He designed characters to live in the locations in his play, for the period of the play. They are all different, some speak more than others, some listen more than others, some are leaders and others followers. Kelly uses a range of devices to create meaning for the audience, and pose questions for them as well as for himself as a writer.

With reference to the play, DNA, Kelly provides us with the following insight:

‘The question is how far will we go to save the group? When I write a play I don’t have an answer. I think about a question I don’t have an answer to – there’s never an easy answer as this makes it more interesting although the play does pose this moral question.’

Therefore, the play is always more than it seems, and this revision guide will hopefully help you uncover the meanings it holds for you.

2

Assessment Objectives (AOs) Explained

What examiners are looking for when you write about this play

For this essay, there are 30 available marks. There are, however, an additional 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar.

This essay question will appear on Paper 2, which is called ‘Modern Texts and Poetry’. The DNA question will be in Section A of the paper. You will have a choice of 2 questions on DNA, of which you answer only 1.

You will be assessed in 4 areas. The areas for assessment are called ‘Assessment Objectives’ (AOs). Below they are explained, with the number of marks allocated to each one.

AO1: (12 marks)

Read, understand and respond to texts.

For this, you should be able to demonstrate:

• Your own ideas and understanding of the text

• An informed personal response

• An ability to illustrate your points by using textual reference

Put simply, this AO assesses your understanding of the characters and themes in the text and your ability to support your ideas.

AO2: (12 marks)

Analyze the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.

In other words, this means how well you back up what you have said in AO1, by explaining the effects of the writer’s methods, using subject terminology.

AO3: (6 marks)

Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written, such as:

• The context in which the text was written (social/historical context)

• The context within which the text is set (location)

(Context may refer to social structures and features/cultural contexts/periods in time as well as literary contexts, such as genres.)

Put simply, this is the way you can relate what you have said in the previous AOs to various contexts. You can be flexible in your contextual references, referring to historical/social/political/literary influences or to the effect of genre. In the case of the play DNA, you may consider its particular genre as a play for the theatre designed for young people, and/or you may make reference to the use of settings and locations, for that particular audience.

3

A Summary of DNA by Dennis Kelly

A group of teenagers do something bad, which they think is really bad, then panic and cover the whole thing up. But their plans to cover up become complicated and put pressure on the group, from which emerge leaders, followers and consequences.

Act 1

Scene 1 (A Street)

Jan and Mark. Mark is questioned by Jan regarding the news that someone is ‘dead’ and this throws the audience into the centre of their crisis.

Scene 2 (A Field)

Leah and Phil. Leah talks and Phil eats an ice-cream. Leah speaks throughout and appears to speak for Phil who remains silent.

Scene 3 (A Wood)

Lou, John Tate and Danny. John Tate tries to take control of the group by using fear and threats confrontation. He bans others from using the word ‘dead’. Richard threatens his leadership but this is suppressed. When Mark and Jan arrive (with Leah and Phil) they explain to the group their version of events leading up to Adam falling into the grille. They try to justify their vicious attack on him by saying he was laughing. Phil finally speaks and devises a plan to frame a non-existent person.

Scene 4 (A Field)

Leah delivers what appears to be a monologue about bonobos being our nearest relatives: ‘Chimps are evil. They murder each other… They kill and sometimes torture each other to find a better position within the social structure’ (here). This could be seen as the playwright’s voice coming through about the nature of groups and how far we go to protect our own position within them.

Act 2

Scene 1 (A Street)

The audience learns from Jan and Mark that someone is ‘not going’ – this is a reference to Brian not going to the police station.

Scene 2 (A Field)

Leah is still trying to elicit a response from Phil. She talks about the nature of happiness. She shows him a Tupperware container and says it is Jerry. She describes how she has killed him.

Scene 3 (A Wood)

The plan has gone wrong. Because Cathy used her ‘initiative’ to find a man that fits the description that Phil invented, the police have now found the man that matched that description. Brian at first refuses to go into the police station to identify the man who is being framed. Phil threatens him with being taken up to the grille if he doesn’t go. Finally, Brian goes.

Scene 4 (A Field)

Leah continues to talk to Phil and he fails to respond until the end of the scene where he says one word. In this scene, Leah claims to experience déjà vu.

Act 3

Scene 1 (A Street)...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 A Way of Looking at a Play
• 2 Assessment Objectives (AOs) Explained
• 3 A Summary of DNA by Dennis Kelly
• 4 Introduction to the Use of Dimension Charts
• 5 Review of Plot and Character
• 6 Writer’s Methods
• 7 Themes
• 8 Contexts
• 9 Tackling the Question
• 10 A Guide to Writing your Examination Answer
• 11 Glossary of Terms
• 12 Appendix
• 13 Resources for Photocopying