DNA: School Edition (Oberon Modern Plays)

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A chimp will find itself on the outside of a group, and before he knows it, he's been hounded to death by the others. Sometimes for months! They push students to ask whether these behaviours are learned and societal or whether they lay deep inside us all and are hereditary.

Kelly says that he struggled with alcoholism during much of his 20s. [10] He attended Alcoholics Anonymous and has been sober since 2001. [11] He gets us to frame an innocent person, gets someone to identify the body and kill Adam when he turns up alive.Initially menacing, he tried to ignore his conscience. Shirking from the reality of what the group have done.' When Adam actually appears in Act 3 Scene 3 (p49) we find out he has been living in a hedge. He has suffered a head injury and this is evidently still affecting him as his memory is weak and his speech is confused and staggered (p53) Lou will follow whoever the leader is at the time. She is a ‘yes’ woman and will do as she is told. She is controlled by fear (see Act 1 Scene 3). She is afraid of John Tate but also of ‘ Richard, maybe’ (p13). This causes John Tate to panic and ultimately results in John Tate and Richard’s confrontation. Lou (possibly inadvertently) has planted the seed in John Tate’s mind that he is not seen as a leader which results in the struggle for power between him and Richard. Ultimately, their conflict ends with John Tate re-gaining power through threats and fear. For years we thought that Chimps were our closest living relative, but... now they're saying it's Bonobo's. a b Armstrong, Stephen (27 April 2009). "Popular but pulled". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 March 2021.

This incredibly powerful play will wrong-foot students and place them in the head, heart and soul of a dilemma and make them feel like they have blood on their hands. What would they do? The central question of the play centres around group dynamics and whether it is right to sacrifice the individual for the many.Raphael, Amy (16 May 2009). "There's no moral centre to Pulling because we don't have one!". The Guardian. London. Snow, Georgia (11 November 2015). "Matilda writers Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly awarded honorary degrees from Mountview". The Stage. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017.

DNA, as a drama, takes the negativity and nihilism of a group of teenagers to a wholly different level to that which has been seen in literature before, eg. Catcher in the Rye. There is virtually no communication with the world outside the friendship group portrayed in the opening scenes. The world of the characters takes very little notice of the rest of society until faced with the consequences of an act of wilful and ‘mindless’ aggression. The aftermath of this act brings the characters closer together and pulls them apart.Cathy doesn't care, she's too busy running things. You wouldn’t believe how thingshave got. Phil, she's insane! She cut a first years finger off! That’s what they say anyway. Doesn't that bother you? Aren’t you bothered?! Phil is more akin to a Chimp, becoming increasingly cruel throughout the play. To begin with he's mentally cruel to Leah, not speaking a word to her. By the end, he's threatening violence.' Throughout the entire play, Leah has been trying to gain Phil’s attention, and he is constantly ignoring her. Now Phil turns to her for approval and puts his arm round her. She pushes him away and runs off. Now Phil realises that even Leah is rejecting him, he begins to think about what he has done, and spends the rest of the play by himself, refusing to talk to anyone. By the bridge, last week... A fat Caucasian male, five-nine say, with thinning hair and a postman's uniform. Sad eyes... Softly spoken.