Form & Structure

Understanding the form and structure of DNA is essential for GCSE success — AO2 requires you to analyse how the writer uses structure to create meaning. Kelly's structural choices are deliberate and sophisticated, even though the play itself is short and seemingly simple.

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Overall Structure: Four Sections

DNA is divided into four sections, not the traditional five acts of classical drama. Each section follows the same three-location pattern:

Location	Characters	Function
Street	Leah and Phil (1–3); Richard and Phil (4)	Intimate, reflective, philosophical
Field	The full group	Panic, planning, group dynamics, exposition
Woods	Varies	Action, confrontation, moral crisis

Why Three Locations?

The repetition of the same three settings creates a sense of ritual and inevitability:

• Each cycle forces the group to confront its situation in three different registers: intimate reflection (street), collective panic (field), and direct action (woods).
• The repetition suggests that the group is trapped — they keep returning to the same places, making the same kinds of decisions, sinking deeper each time.
• The structure mirrors the cyclical nature of moral compromise — each section echoes the last but with higher stakes.

Examiner's tip: Always reference the three-location structure when discussing form. Write: "Kelly's use of a repeating three-location structure — street, field, woods — creates a ritualistic rhythm that mirrors the group's entrapment in an escalating moral crisis. Each cycle is a variation on the same pattern: reflection, panic, action."

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The Street Scenes

The street scenes are the play's most intimate moments. They feature only two characters — Leah and Phil (or, in Section 4, Richard and Phil).

Function

Function	Detail
Thematic reflection	Leah's monologues explore the play's philosophical questions
Character development	We learn about Phil through what he does NOT say
Emotional register	These scenes are quieter, more contemplative
Structural parallel	The shift from Leah to Richard in Section 4 signals fundamental change

The Leah-to-Richard Shift

The replacement of Leah with Richard in the Section 4 street scene is one of the play's most structurally significant moments:

Leah (Sections 1–3)	Richard (Section 4)
Philosophical, emotional	Matter-of-fact, reporting
Seeks connection with Phil	Does not seem to expect a response
Represents moral awareness	Represents acceptance of the new normal
Phil ignores her	Phil ignores him too — the pattern continues

Examiner's tip: This structural substitution is a powerful analytical point. Write: "Kelly's replacement of Leah with Richard in the final street scene suggests that individuals are interchangeable in Phil's world — the play's most eloquent speaker is replaced by a passive reporter, and Phil does not appear to notice the difference."

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The Field Scenes

The field scenes are the play's group dynamics scenes — where the full cast interacts.

Function

Function	Detail
Exposition	New information is revealed through dialogue
Group dynamics	Power struggles, conformity, dissent
Rising tension	Each field scene escalates the crisis
Characterisation	We see how each character responds to pressure

Progression Across Sections

Section	Field scene content
1	Panic — the group learns Adam has (apparently) died
2	The plan is working — an innocent man arrested; Cathy excited
3	Adam is alive — the group faces a worse moral choice
4	Richard reports the aftermath — the group has fragmented

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The Woods Scenes

The woods scenes are where action happens — decisions are made and carried out.

Function

Function	Detail
Setting for the original crime	Adam fell into the shaft in the woods
Setting for the cover-up	Phil's plan is executed here
Setting for moral escalation	The darkest decisions happen in the woods
Symbolic significance	Woods = moral confusion, darkness, primal instinct

The Woods as Symbol

The woods carry rich symbolic associations:

Association	Relevance to DNA
Fairy tale danger	A place where bad things happen to the unwary
Dante's "dark wood" of sin	The characters are morally lost
Wilderness vs civilisation	The woods represent a space outside social rules
Concealment	The woods hide Adam and the group's crimes

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Dramatic Arc

Despite its four-section structure, DNA follows a recognisable dramatic arc:

Section 3 (CLIMAX)
Adam found alive; Phil proposes murder
           /\
          /  \
         /    \        Section 4 (RESOLUTION)
        /      \       Aftermath: group fragmented,
       /        \       Adam broken, Leah gone
      /          \
Section 2         \
(RISING ACTION)    \
Plan works;         \
innocent man arrested \
    /                  \
   /                    \
Section 1                \
(EXPOSITION / INCITING INCIDENT)
Panic; Phil's plan

Key Structural Points

Structural term	Where in DNA
Exposition	Section 1 street/field — we learn what happened
Inciting incident	Phil's cover-up plan — sets the main plot in motion
Rising action	Section 2 — consequences escalate
Climax	Section 3 — Adam alive; murder proposed
Falling action	Section 4 — aftermath
Resolution	Section 4 — not a happy ending but a conclusion

Examiner's tip: Use dramatic structure terminology confidently. Write: "The climax of DNA occurs in Section 3, when Adam is discovered alive. This revelation — which should be good news — instead becomes the play's darkest moment, as Phil proposes murder to maintain the cover-up. Kelly subverts the audience's expectations: the discovery of life leads to the contemplation of death."

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Parallel Structure

Kelly uses structural parallels to create meaning through comparison:

Phil's Eating

Section	Phil eats...	While discussing...
1	Ice cream	Leah's philosophical anxieties
2	Crisps	An innocent man's arrest
3	Food/drink	Whether to kill Adam
4	Waffle	The group's complete collapse

The repetition of Phil eating across all four sections creates a disturbing structural motif — the subjects grow more horrifying, but Phil's behaviour remains unchanged.

Leah's Escalation

Section	Leah's state
1	Chatty, curious, seeking engagement
2	More anxious, more insistent
3	Desperate — threatens self-harm
4	Absent — she has left

The arc of Leah's presence (present → desperate → gone) mirrors the arc of moral hope in the play (possible → fading → extinguished).

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The Play's Opening

DNA begins in medias res (in the middle of things). The audience does not witness the original bullying or Adam's fall. Instead, we arrive after the crisis, and must piece together what happened from fragmented accounts.

Effect of beginning after the event	Detail
Creates mystery and tension	What exactly happened?
Focuses on consequences, not actions	The play is about the aftermath of violence, not the violence itself
Mirrors the characters' fragmented knowledge	No single character has the full picture
Prevents the audience from seeing Adam as a character	He remains abstract, which mirrors the group's dehumanisation of him

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The Play's Ending

The ending of DNA is deliberately unresolved:

• Adam is alive but broken.
• The group has fragmented but no one has been punished by external authority.
• Phil walks away from Adam in the woods.
• There is no redemption, no reconciliation, no justice.

This open ending has several effects:

1. It denies the audience catharsis — we do not get the emotional release of a resolved conclusion.
2. It forces the audience to judge — because the play does not punish the characters, we must decide for ourselves what justice looks like.
3. It mirrors real life — moral crises do not always have neat resolutions.
4. It suggests the cycle will continue — with Cathy as leader, the group may commit further acts of violence.

Examiner's tip: The unresolved ending is a key structural feature. Write: "Kelly's refusal to provide a conventional resolution forces the audience into the role of moral judge. The absence of external punishment does not mean the absence of consequences — Brian is destroyed, Adam is broken, and the group has lost its humanity."

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Pace and Rhythm