DNA by Dennis Kelly

What happens when you leave the kids in charge? Like William Golding's Lord of the Flies, Dennis Kelly's DNA suggests the answer is pretty ugly. Ghoulish violence is a staple across Kelly's work and, as generations of Roald Dahl fans can tell us, kids love to see a character tied up and tortured.

Written for National Theatre Connections in 2008, DNA is a dark thriller. Not so much a whodunnit as a howdunnit, whydunnit and how are we gonna get out of it? A gang of teenagers have been mucking about and things went a bit far. They ended up torturing Adam, who fell down a shaft. The play starts as the gang are desperately trying to get themselves out of the mess they've made. DNA's plot is classical: as in Ancient Greek drama, there's a beginning, middle and end. Adam, who is meant to be dead (spoiler alert), turns up. This crisis needs to be resolved. But unlike classical tragedies, DNA doesn't end with a tidy conclusion. Do the kids actually kill Adam (again)? Kelly presents young actors and audiences with complex, challenging subject matter.