Stage 2 English Communications William Coote

Text Analysis Live Performance 297744E

In what ways does the director use the conventions of theatre in order to
communicate ideas and influence the response of the audience? Write an
analytical essay in response.

The 2014 production, DNA written by Dennis Kelly and directed by Charlaina
Thompson influences and communicates ideas to the audience through the use of
conventions of theatre. Thompson uses the conventions of costumes, setting and
physical theatre to demonstrate the themes of happiness, growing up, guilt and
group dynamics. These themes become obvious throughout the play as we follow a
group of troubled teenage girls as they struggle with guilt and strive for happiness
after the accidental murder of one of their friends.

The play utilises settings as a means to explore the theme of happiness. The setting
is also used to show how the characters mature and develop throughout the play.
The background of the play is three layers of vertical strips of cloth. On this cloth, the
image of a forest is projected. The image changes throughout the play. The three set
of strips represents jail bars. It shows how they are trapped in a cist pool of
emotions, which create a good platform for Thompson to demonstrate how they are
striving for happiness. Thompson uses seasonal changes in the background of the set
to demonstrate how the characters mature. At the start of the play it is spring, but it
then cycles through the seasons to autumn. When considering life in a metaphorical
sense, young children and infants are considered to be spring. By setting spring as
the season for the beginning of the play, Thompson shows us how the group is still
innocent. Like infants they have done no wrong and like children they do not
understand the consequences of their actions. The season then changes to summer.
Summer is the metaphorical representation of the peak of our lives, around the age
of 20, when we are supposed to be at our happiest. This is shown in the play by
Rachael commenting on how everyone is getting along now and how we are all
finally happy. This shows that even though they are going through great turmoil,
they are still coping and striving for happiness. In a metaphorical sense, we can look
at autumn as representing middle age. So metaphorically the characters have
experience and are able to understand the consequences of their actions. As the
season changes to autumn, Gilly comes back and suddenly they are all struggling
again. This time however, they have matured. This leads to the conclusion of the
group being able to make the tough decision of killing Gilly. Which shows us how the
characters have grown up throughout the play.

Throughout the performance, Thompsons dynamic use of costume is highly effective
at portraying the main theme of group dynamics. All of the students in the group
wear school uniform, but each uniform is slightly different. Individuals costumes
show what type of person they are. Leah is the most grounded of the group, and this
is shown in her neat uniform. The two characters that have the least presentable
uniforms are Bec and Jo. They are also the biggest and meanest looking. By showing
how they dont have high regard of the rules through their uniform, Thompson has
shown the audience that they are the toughest in the group and at the top of the
hierarchy. While the girls in the gang all wear some variation of a winter uniform,
Gilly wears a summer uniform. This shows that she wants to be part of the group but
Stage 2 English Communications William Coote
Text Analysis Live Performance 297744E
doesnt really fit in. Summer uniform is also more fragile than a winter uniform. This
shows that Gilly is a weaker person, and easier to manipulate.

Physical theatre is an exceptionally influential convention used throughout the
performance. It creates a good image of the relationships between the characters
and the group dynamics. It also reflects how each character is responsible for the
death of Gilly and how they all feel the same guilt. The first piece of physical theatre
is Turn The Page by The Streets. This song is used to show how the group are street
kids. The song is a slow paced proletarian rap, so instantly reminds the audience of
the streets in London. As the song plays, each member of the group shows their
personality through dance and yells obscenities into the audience, while the only
source of light is a red strobe light. This is very intimidating, and is effective in
showing the audience how the group are bullies and often violent. The final physical
theatre sequence is Seven Devils by Florence and The Machine. It is used as a
platform for the metaphorical re-enactment of Gillys death to show how each girl is
equally responsible. The song itself is quite dark and psychedelic, which overwhelms
the audience with a feeling of dread. As the song plays, the girls are seen dancing in
a tribal manner around Gilly. At some stage, every girl lands a punch on Gilly, until
finally a bag is put over her head to represent her death. This shows how each girl is
equally responsible for Gillys death, even though it was Briyn who killed her. The
song invokes a feeling of dread, helping us sense the guilt the must have been going
through.

Throughout the performance, Thompson was able to provoke emotions in the
audience, which was exceptional for communicating the key ideas of the play.
Thompson used the theatre conventions of costumes, setting and physical theatre to
demonstrate the themes of happiness, growing up, guilt and group dynamics. The
performance was very thought provoking and extremely successful at making the
audience question their own morals. It was especially effective at planting the
question whats more important? One person or everyone? into our minds.

Word Count: 940