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DNA
A group of teenagers do something bad, really bad, then panic and cover the whole thing up. But when they find that the cover-up unites them and brings harmony to their otherwise fractious lives, where’s the incentive to put things right? DNA is a poignant and, sometimes, hilarious tale with a very dark heart.
A new play for younger people DNA opened at the National Theatre in February 2008
A new play for younger people DNA opened at the National Theatre in February 2008
64 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2008
About the author
Dennis Kelly
69 books78 followersTHEATRE INCLUDES: Debris (Theatre503/BAC); Osama the Hero (Hampstead); After the End (Paines Plough/Traverse/The Bush/UK and international tour); Love and Money (Young Vic/Royal Exchange); Taking Care of Baby (Hampstead/Birmingham Rep); Orphans (Paines Plough/Traverse/Birmingham Rep/Soho). Plays for young people include: DNA (National Theatre) and Our Teacher is a Troll (National Theatre of Scotland). He also co-wrote the comedy series Pulling (BBC3) and wrote and created Utopia (Channel 4).
His plays have been performed in over thirty countries worldwide and translated into twenty languages.
His plays have been performed in over thirty countries worldwide and translated into twenty languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
January 15, 2018
Not enough depth for such a harrowing story. Some of the characters were unrealistic and their development was too rushed. The story was quite exciting and had a lot of potential. I can see why it is studied in schools as the plot would grip teenagers but there doesn’t seem to be enough overall content to justify weeks of study.
March 20, 2017
I read this with a group of friends about a week ago. No. We all thought it was terrible. :-( I will try and forget it exists.
P.S. I read this a week ago and forgot to mark it in, sorry to people who follow me.
P.S. I read this a week ago and forgot to mark it in, sorry to people who follow me.
November 5, 2013
MAY 2015:
**4.5 STARS**
This was my final read of the play before my exam & this is by far my favourite text we have studied for English. I love the characters, the philosophical and ethical meanings, the idea of nature VS nurture & especially the way Kelly diverts the audience's expectations through the use of anti-pastoralism to communicate the misconceptions of Teenagers.
FEBRUARY 2015:
I Reread this for school & still really enjoyed it! However my favourite character is now Cathy! I think she is the most intricate & interesting!
NOVEMBER 2013:
I enjoyed this play a lot! It was really dark compared to what I was expecting, and had such an eerie feel throughout! My favourite character was Brian, as I loves his craziness and randomness!:')
**4.5 STARS**
This was my final read of the play before my exam & this is by far my favourite text we have studied for English. I love the characters, the philosophical and ethical meanings, the idea of nature VS nurture & especially the way Kelly diverts the audience's expectations through the use of anti-pastoralism to communicate the misconceptions of Teenagers.
FEBRUARY 2015:
I Reread this for school & still really enjoyed it! However my favourite character is now Cathy! I think she is the most intricate & interesting!
NOVEMBER 2013:
I enjoyed this play a lot! It was really dark compared to what I was expecting, and had such an eerie feel throughout! My favourite character was Brian, as I loves his craziness and randomness!:')
July 25, 2011
I read this because it has just been added to the new GCSE specification for AQA and I wanted to see if I would want to teach it. Simply, I wouldn't.
It's one of those dreadful plays written about teenagers, for teenagers which has a glaringly obvious moral. I found the dialogue clumsy, the characters one dimensional and the plot uninspiring.
However, I'm clearly not the target audience and kids may enjoy it.
The scene where one of the main characters starts eating dirt is probably the low point - reading it, one can imagine some drama school show off hamming it up for maximum 'comic' effect.
Piffle.
It's one of those dreadful plays written about teenagers, for teenagers which has a glaringly obvious moral. I found the dialogue clumsy, the characters one dimensional and the plot uninspiring.
However, I'm clearly not the target audience and kids may enjoy it.
The scene where one of the main characters starts eating dirt is probably the low point - reading it, one can imagine some drama school show off hamming it up for maximum 'comic' effect.
Piffle.
March 19, 2024
leah is so me trying to fill silence (not the hamster bit)
March 23, 2026
A fairly straightforward piece with a recurring structure and devices for each act. This borderlines a bit too simple for me but it pays off/feels intentional by the time we arrive at the final change that occurs at the end, breaking the cycle as it were.
Whilst what happens in the play itself is appalling, it’s only spoken around or about, leaving most of the play’s core to protagonist Leah’s thoughts and feelings, which are engaging enough. Her and Phil’s dynamic (or lack of) is an interesting anchor for the piece.
Kelly excels the most in his characters’ musings on the world, and the conversational back and forth between different people without the need to over-explain. Dialogue feels natural and present.
Not a groundbreaking piece of work, but nothing to scoff at either!
Whilst what happens in the play itself is appalling, it’s only spoken around or about, leaving most of the play’s core to protagonist Leah’s thoughts and feelings, which are engaging enough. Her and Phil’s dynamic (or lack of) is an interesting anchor for the piece.
Kelly excels the most in his characters’ musings on the world, and the conversational back and forth between different people without the need to over-explain. Dialogue feels natural and present.
Not a groundbreaking piece of work, but nothing to scoff at either!
Read
May 14, 2025I’d want to see a production of this before rating it but oh my god I feel ill. Really enjoyed the dialogue, very well written and felt very true to life!! Teenagers doing really fucked up things! Capital F U Fucked Up! Yeah, I’d really like to see a production of this or dare I say be in one??? did the opening scene in my first year of drama school which brings back memories. Dennis Kelly is a great writer.
December 31, 2025
2.9/5
I wanted to finish my reading goal before the end of the year and luckily I succeeded 🎉 I have been wanting to pick this up for a while now and this was the perfect opportunity, this was a play so it was very different compared to your regular murder mystery/cover up. There was a lot of yap in this book especially from Leah, I feel like she had a lot of character but was kinda confused on where she stood in the story at times. I didn't care much for the others, they were stupid teenagers and I hated how they bullied Adam but Phil on the other hand, he was so odd and some of the things he said concerned me.
⚠️spoiler⚠️
The ending was kinda sudden, nothing much happened, this book was very much out to interpretation and more about the moral of the story, when Adam was alive, rather than being happy that they didn't kill him, they were actually annoyed?! and wanted to kill him more was mad to me, especially Phil's foreshadowing of Adam's death by expressing his want to 'get rid of him' was kinda mad but I think that Phil killed Adam which is why he didn't say anything at the end because he was now responsible.
Anyways, this was a weird book but also interesting, now having read the book, I would want to see this performed 🎭✨️✨️
I wanted to finish my reading goal before the end of the year and luckily I succeeded 🎉 I have been wanting to pick this up for a while now and this was the perfect opportunity, this was a play so it was very different compared to your regular murder mystery/cover up. There was a lot of yap in this book especially from Leah, I feel like she had a lot of character but was kinda confused on where she stood in the story at times. I didn't care much for the others, they were stupid teenagers and I hated how they bullied Adam but Phil on the other hand, he was so odd and some of the things he said concerned me.
⚠️spoiler⚠️
The ending was kinda sudden, nothing much happened, this book was very much out to interpretation and more about the moral of the story, when Adam was alive, rather than being happy that they didn't kill him, they were actually annoyed?! and wanted to kill him more was mad to me, especially Phil's foreshadowing of Adam's death by expressing his want to 'get rid of him' was kinda mad but I think that Phil killed Adam which is why he didn't say anything at the end because he was now responsible.
Anyways, this was a weird book but also interesting, now having read the book, I would want to see this performed 🎭✨️✨️
June 16, 2025
Do this with my GCSE classes lol, I like it, them not so much… RUDE
November 14, 2021
‘DNA’ by Dennis Kelly is an intriguing story whose plot revolves around the complexities of persistent social interactions. Kelly elaborately portrays many intrinsic characteristics of a large-scale society by weaving them into the behavior of his fictional gang, presenting the gang as a micro-culture; as a subgroup, the gang is the exhibition of the large-scale society’s stratification i.e. one of the multiple micro-cultures that act as building block of the society. Throughout the plot, the author attempts to demonstrate patterns of behavior in his characters, relevant to the modern societal norms. He demonstrates the consequences of groupthink, that results in the inhibition of morals, arise of conformism, peer pressure etc.
DNA presents the issue that characters acting as a group demolishes the restrictions a person acting individually would usually impose on themselves. Resulting, is the person’s susceptibility to conformist groupthink. An example of this in the story is Mark and Jan’s retelling of the incident that lead to Adam’s presumed demise. Their repeated use of “we” implies that they were intoxicated with the power and freedom of consequence they felt, in acting as a group, “We’re having a laugh thinking what’s this nutter going to do next, we can make him do, we can make him do…”. After learning of Adam’s death, however, their fear of facing repercussions that mirror the intimidation and abuse they themselves executed on Adam, is revealed by their willingness to cover up the murder. This fear acts as proof to show that the bullies do have the ability to sympathize with Adam. Yet despite knowing of their wrongdoing, they continued to harass him. Why?
It would be plausible to explain that the characters persevered in abusing Adam, an outcast, in order to satisfy the social norm of conforming to the group, that hence benefits the perpetrator i.e. securing and solidifying their value as part of the group. Dennis Kelly shows through the reason of the bullying that lead to Adam’s murder, the dangers of conformism that is very possible and does exist in the present society. He shows the innate need of people to belong somewhere utterly outweighs their moralities and principles, causing them to take part in actions that do not represent their individual moral character (Adam too wanted to belong, but being an outsider to the group, he was instead acknowledged as a threat). An obvious example of this is Cathy’s constant seeking of approval from leader figures in the gang “We showed initiative… Richard we showed initiative.” Her morals are clearly non-existent at this point, where she willingly decides to frame an innocent man for murder.
Peer pressure in correlation to the executor’s status in the social hierarchy, is a major influencing factor in the norms and unwritten rules within a society. The relationship of Leah’s characters demonstrates this: A seemingly insignificant member of the group (whose voice does exist but goes unheard) becomes more of a member thanks to her relationship with Phil, the alpha of the gang. Her relationship with Phil provides her with benefits that characters more distant from Phil do not have, such as: exclusion from the murder cover-up plans, her value and status have augmented to claiming joint leadership and responsibility, etc. However, we see that she is no exception from conformity as her character begins to suffer from the indirect social pressure of simply being a member of the gang. Although Phil does not overtly attempt to force Leah’s conformity, he is still able to have an influence on her. Her guilt-devoid proclamation of murdering her hamster shows the crumbling of her morality. “It’s Jerry. I killed him. I took him out of his cage, I put the point of a screwdriver on his head and I hit it with a hammer.” The cause of this could be for seeking attention from Phil. However, in this climate of constant fear, it is more plausible that Leah killed her pet hamster, because her insecurities made her feel the need to mirror the atmosphere that she is surrounded by.
DNA is a play that paints a very vivid picture of our society. The sub-themes I have explored in previous paragraphs relating to the micro-culture in DNA, all link back to the idea of conformity. Evolution-wise, belonginess (of which the result is the necessity to conform) has been a part of the human nature since the formation of colonies and tribes. For survival it was necessary to belong to a group, to protect themselves and each other from animals, share resources, hunt huge mammoths for food (a near impossible solo feat). Humans retained this survival instinct of gathering in groups to the present day, and has shaped us into the inherently social creatures we are. However, the rather beautiful idea of depending on each other and aid the survival of everyone, has been manipulated and twisted into the unwritten threat that anything that is not perfectly the ideas, views or thoughts allowed by the society will be taken as offence. Worded alternatively: “Deviation from the norm will be punished” (Uncertain origin, incomplete quote 2017). Survival isn’t a choice for those who do not conform.
This is regrettably a prominence in our society: the bullying of boys that don’t invest their every second playing sport. The shame and assault hurled at girls who don’t attempt to go out of their way to appear pleasing to the eye. The prejudice at men who do not want to sweat away their lives constructing masonry but would rather run a flower shop or open a hair salon. The abuse directed at women that do not want to spend their whole lives in the kitchen taking care of the children and catering to every need and answering the beck and call of their man.
Dennis Kelly successfully highlights this grave problem in DNA (however he scratches but the bare surface of this immense and deeply-rooted issue), showing to the reader a very plausible consequence simply arising from the conformity of the group in the choice to bully Adam. Unwillingness to conform carries the risk of social-rejection, a fear so great in people, that they would commit murder. Say if they had not murdered Adam. However, had this abusive rejection of Adam joining their gang proceeded for longer, at a certain point, Adam’s fear of facing this rejection will very much outweigh that of the sweet release death would provide.
DNA presents the issue that characters acting as a group demolishes the restrictions a person acting individually would usually impose on themselves. Resulting, is the person’s susceptibility to conformist groupthink. An example of this in the story is Mark and Jan’s retelling of the incident that lead to Adam’s presumed demise. Their repeated use of “we” implies that they were intoxicated with the power and freedom of consequence they felt, in acting as a group, “We’re having a laugh thinking what’s this nutter going to do next, we can make him do, we can make him do…”. After learning of Adam’s death, however, their fear of facing repercussions that mirror the intimidation and abuse they themselves executed on Adam, is revealed by their willingness to cover up the murder. This fear acts as proof to show that the bullies do have the ability to sympathize with Adam. Yet despite knowing of their wrongdoing, they continued to harass him. Why?
It would be plausible to explain that the characters persevered in abusing Adam, an outcast, in order to satisfy the social norm of conforming to the group, that hence benefits the perpetrator i.e. securing and solidifying their value as part of the group. Dennis Kelly shows through the reason of the bullying that lead to Adam’s murder, the dangers of conformism that is very possible and does exist in the present society. He shows the innate need of people to belong somewhere utterly outweighs their moralities and principles, causing them to take part in actions that do not represent their individual moral character (Adam too wanted to belong, but being an outsider to the group, he was instead acknowledged as a threat). An obvious example of this is Cathy’s constant seeking of approval from leader figures in the gang “We showed initiative… Richard we showed initiative.” Her morals are clearly non-existent at this point, where she willingly decides to frame an innocent man for murder.
Peer pressure in correlation to the executor’s status in the social hierarchy, is a major influencing factor in the norms and unwritten rules within a society. The relationship of Leah’s characters demonstrates this: A seemingly insignificant member of the group (whose voice does exist but goes unheard) becomes more of a member thanks to her relationship with Phil, the alpha of the gang. Her relationship with Phil provides her with benefits that characters more distant from Phil do not have, such as: exclusion from the murder cover-up plans, her value and status have augmented to claiming joint leadership and responsibility, etc. However, we see that she is no exception from conformity as her character begins to suffer from the indirect social pressure of simply being a member of the gang. Although Phil does not overtly attempt to force Leah’s conformity, he is still able to have an influence on her. Her guilt-devoid proclamation of murdering her hamster shows the crumbling of her morality. “It’s Jerry. I killed him. I took him out of his cage, I put the point of a screwdriver on his head and I hit it with a hammer.” The cause of this could be for seeking attention from Phil. However, in this climate of constant fear, it is more plausible that Leah killed her pet hamster, because her insecurities made her feel the need to mirror the atmosphere that she is surrounded by.
DNA is a play that paints a very vivid picture of our society. The sub-themes I have explored in previous paragraphs relating to the micro-culture in DNA, all link back to the idea of conformity. Evolution-wise, belonginess (of which the result is the necessity to conform) has been a part of the human nature since the formation of colonies and tribes. For survival it was necessary to belong to a group, to protect themselves and each other from animals, share resources, hunt huge mammoths for food (a near impossible solo feat). Humans retained this survival instinct of gathering in groups to the present day, and has shaped us into the inherently social creatures we are. However, the rather beautiful idea of depending on each other and aid the survival of everyone, has been manipulated and twisted into the unwritten threat that anything that is not perfectly the ideas, views or thoughts allowed by the society will be taken as offence. Worded alternatively: “Deviation from the norm will be punished” (Uncertain origin, incomplete quote 2017). Survival isn’t a choice for those who do not conform.
This is regrettably a prominence in our society: the bullying of boys that don’t invest their every second playing sport. The shame and assault hurled at girls who don’t attempt to go out of their way to appear pleasing to the eye. The prejudice at men who do not want to sweat away their lives constructing masonry but would rather run a flower shop or open a hair salon. The abuse directed at women that do not want to spend their whole lives in the kitchen taking care of the children and catering to every need and answering the beck and call of their man.
Dennis Kelly successfully highlights this grave problem in DNA (however he scratches but the bare surface of this immense and deeply-rooted issue), showing to the reader a very plausible consequence simply arising from the conformity of the group in the choice to bully Adam. Unwillingness to conform carries the risk of social-rejection, a fear so great in people, that they would commit murder. Say if they had not murdered Adam. However, had this abusive rejection of Adam joining their gang proceeded for longer, at a certain point, Adam’s fear of facing this rejection will very much outweigh that of the sweet release death would provide.
January 20, 2024
I found this really hard to rate! Overall I felt the play dropped off towards the end. However there were moments I was really interested in and some good monologues and scenes. I have seen part of this performed and thought it was incredibly done - so I am unsure if it is one of those plays which works when it’s on its feet and not as much when you read it.
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August 19, 2021i'm playing phil in this and he's basically just andrew minyard
March 18, 2022
yeh its ight
December 23, 2025
have to teach this to year 9s and pretend i didn’t hate it
August 13, 2025
Too short for me to really appreciate - had some interesting ideas for sure.
September 20, 2025
WHY DID ADAM HAVE TO BE FOUND ALIVE 😒
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2021
Read it in one sitting. Awful and tragic tale. Writing was at once terse and horrifying. Will need a more optimisic text to cheer me up.
July 10, 2018
A group of teenagers are bullying a boy at their school called Adam. They force him to do things he doesn’t want to do (like running across the motorway, letting them punch him, and eating leaves and dirt). One day their bullying goes to far, and while walking across a gate over a mine shaft whilst being pummeled with stones, Adam falls.
They all think that he’s dead, and go about making a plan to hide what they’ve done. Their plan goes slightly wrong when they frame an innocent postman for ‘kidnapping’ Adam. Brian, a member of their group, refuses to go to the police station and confirm that he saw the man alone with Adam. However, he ends up going because Phil threatens to throw him down the grate to ‘rot together’ with Adam.
Some of the teenagers find Adam living in the woods in a bush with a severe head injury. The teenagers have had to work together to sort things out, and this has brought them closer as friends. Now the opportunity presents itself to bring Adam back and own up. Phil sends some of them home and instructs Cathy to take Brian (who is not right in the head and doesn’t understand what he’s doing) to ‘play a game’ with Adam. The game involves Brian holding a plastic bag over Adam’s head until he suffocates.
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.
All of the teenagers are affected by what they’ve done. It mentions that Cathy enjoys being on the T.V. crying about Adam’s death, and that she apparently cut off the finger of a younger child at the school. Two of the others have taken up shoplifting, Brian’s mental health has been getting worse, and Leah has moved away and is not heard from again.
They all think that he’s dead, and go about making a plan to hide what they’ve done. Their plan goes slightly wrong when they frame an innocent postman for ‘kidnapping’ Adam. Brian, a member of their group, refuses to go to the police station and confirm that he saw the man alone with Adam. However, he ends up going because Phil threatens to throw him down the grate to ‘rot together’ with Adam.
Some of the teenagers find Adam living in the woods in a bush with a severe head injury. The teenagers have had to work together to sort things out, and this has brought them closer as friends. Now the opportunity presents itself to bring Adam back and own up. Phil sends some of them home and instructs Cathy to take Brian (who is not right in the head and doesn’t understand what he’s doing) to ‘play a game’ with Adam. The game involves Brian holding a plastic bag over Adam’s head until he suffocates.
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.
All of the teenagers are affected by what they’ve done. It mentions that Cathy enjoys being on the T.V. crying about Adam’s death, and that she apparently cut off the finger of a younger child at the school. Two of the others have taken up shoplifting, Brian’s mental health has been getting worse, and Leah has moved away and is not heard from again.
July 14, 2023
this play has the biggest soft spot in my heart. having performed it at GCSE for drama and now to be reliving it again as cathy for a trip to edinburgh fringe, i find so much nostalgia throughout it and every time i step on stage or open the play, i am instantly excited despite the countless amount of times i’ve read it. the characters are as complex or as simple as you determine them to be and have a whole world of exploration to uncover underneath the text itself. the group dynamic is incredibly fraught yet so interesting in the way it constantly shifts with power and friendships. as well, the topic of ‘main character’ is one that is always interesting when it comes to this play and there are so many perspectives that can be taken from this, all which change again when you begin to perform this on a stage. every micro interaction and stage direction holds purpose and is as important as the next one on the page and it overall culminates in a macabre and shattering piece of theatre that explores the harsh realities of bullying and pack mentality alongside the argument of nature versus nature and the effects this has within every day contexts. i will forever love dennis kelly and this fabulous play <3
January 10, 2018
I have been studying this play in my GCSE Drama class and I think it’s safe to say that we all hate it. The interesting parts have about a page of dialogue dedicated to them and the boring parts get 3 page monologues. The storyline is mediocre at best and the main characters are insufferable. The only character I really like is Phil, he’s the reason it gets two stars instead of one, but even his dialogue is crammed into two massive monologues. He is written to seem almost stupid for the about the first half of the play and then we find out that he is ridiculously smart and it has so little time dedicated to it. He also goes from 0 to 100 far too quickly when he turns into some kind of murderous sociopath toward the end. Overall this book was unbelievably boring to read and I really wish I didn’t have to sit an exam on it in May.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 16, 2015
This is the play our Y10 GCSE students are reading for their exam. I only taught half of it before my class changed, and I really did not enjoy it. I can understand why ours important to read, but I feel like Kelly has such a dreary view of teenagers and what terrible people they are, that it ruins the story for me. Do kids buckle under peer pressure? Absolutely. But accidentally harming someone and deliberately manipulating their death after harming them is a completely different ball game.
The only character that was tolerable by the end of the play was Leah, which is interesting because she spends most of the play being as annoying as possible.
The only character that was tolerable by the end of the play was Leah, which is interesting because she spends most of the play being as annoying as possible.
April 7, 2016
I found this play absolutely abhorrent with no redeeming features. I should have put the play down when I read in the opening pages the line, "This play was commissioned by the National Theatre Education as part of its Connections project." Aimed at and based on 'young people' (scare quotes very necessary, here), this play contains all of the patronising clichés about teenagers known to man. It insults me so much because there is an abundance of decent and readily accessible English literature out there for 'young people' to study, that some half-digested contrived tripe written in ‘a modern teenage sociolect’ is surely never justified. I think I would refuse to teach this.
June 22, 2015
This script is really good and I got introduced to it through school as it is for our drama exam. it is really good because I think it'll capture everything well and hook the audience it is just full of really powerful scenes which are perfect for you to act out and there is a lot of cool hooking and captivating scenes. read it and have fun preforming...
December 30, 2015
It took a short time to understand the context, but I stuck with it. I'm glad I did. Lots of typical teenage angst expressed as the various disparate characters find a common ground as a result of a shocking event.
The ending is just as sudden, and unexpected.
This is a play, so expect a typical script, plenty of dialogue and in this edition, little in the way of stage direction.
The ending is just as sudden, and unexpected.
This is a play, so expect a typical script, plenty of dialogue and in this edition, little in the way of stage direction.
October 23, 2016
This book was very deep because you could get inside of the character's heads. The character Brian I feel in love with. However, some characters were really quite psychopathic, which made them really quite scary.
January 22, 2021
i had to read this for gcse drama and i loved the idea of the plot but the ending left me feeling unsatisfied and with so many questions .I really wanted to like this book but after i read the last page i was a bit confused . i watched the play and enjoyed that a bit more than the book .
June 27, 2012
When performed with a committed group of drama students this play comes to life.
Read
November 22, 2022Read for school
Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews