A superb and engaging performance of 'DNA' from 3^rd and 4^th Form pupils...

Flickr album: The Junior Play - DNA - 23rd May 2024 | Height: auto | Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin

The form and content of Dennis Kelly's DNA provided a challenge for the 3^rd and 4^th Form, asking them to engage with poignant topics, despite the age of the play. The structure of the play was a mixture of short ensemble sequences, narration, and "talking head" style interviews, bringing the audience into the debates of morality, leadership and social responsibility. This appears with a cyclical narrative, ensuring that the audience are able to follow on with the changes to the story. Coco and Harry, playing Jan and Mark, providing an introduction to each section and outlining the problem the characters are facing for the audience. Monologues, delivered superbly by Kitty, are used as metaphors to analyse the situation and are used as a distraction for her character from the happenings in the play. 

The most challenging aspect, technically, of this production is the structure of the language and how close it is to the current teenage speaking style. However, by the time production week came around, the pupils overlapped their lines and cut each other off effectively to increase the tension and argumentative nature of the scenes. As ever, the final stages of the rehearsals saw the most significant moments of progress, with characters developing well and the transitions between scenes highlighting the growing tension in the group. 

The response from the audience was brilliant, with many members engaging with the moral debate, with others desperate to know the outcome of the situation. Thank you all for giving up your time to support the juniors in the play!

It was great to have almost 25 people involved in the production, both on the stage and backstage: some in their first production. It was, without doubt, a team effort and each member of the cast and crew made the production possible. Well done. The final performance was superb, and I hope that you are all proud of the work you created. I look forward to seeing many of you in future productions at King's. 

Will Stainton - Head of Performing Arts

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