By Dennis Kelly

Scots College, Student Production 2017

DNA is about a group of 15-year-olds who accidentally kill one of their classmates. When they realise the terrible mistake they’ve made, they try to cover up the crime, but inadvertently implicate an innocent man in the process. At each moment when they could come clean, the teenagers weave a darker, more complex web of lies instead. They have an understanding that what they’re doing is wrong, but they carry on regardless.

The work explores group psychology and the lengths to which you would go to protect yourself and your friends. Dennis Kelly insisted that he had no specific message in mind when he wrote the play. He recalled that when he was a teenager it would be his friends that he would go to when he was in trouble, rather than a parent or teacher. That was the inspiration behind the story; a group of friends doing whatever it takes to protect each other.

The play was first performed in 2007, but there is no reference to the year in which the action of the play is imagined to take place. In fact, the timelessness of the play is deliberate and rehearsing the play in 2017 in Sydney has shown us that it is still relevant.

First commissioned by the National Theatre in 2007 as part of its Connections Programme, the play was performed entirely by young actors. DNA has been included in the seasons of many youth theatre companies’ and it's easy to see why. The characters in the play are instantly recognisable as your typical mix of teenagers and the changing group dynamics, particularly the shifts in power, are realistic.