The youth of Britain, as a group, are a focal point of fascination. People ask themselves, “Are all teenagers thieving hoodlums?”, “When will children stop playing on their phones and do something?”, or “Why is that teenager borrowing my phone and wallet at high speed?” While the press vilification of teenagers has died down slightly, the social reaction to hoodies and young people is still as negative as ever.

Enter Dennis Kelly’s DNA, a story about a group of school students who must cover up a dark secret to protect themselves. It is one of the best known plays by the renowned playwright, and you can see why. The detail within the text itself creates a variety of challenging characters, at times almost stuck in a cyclical pattern of life.

Throughout the performance, some actors carried this detail well, while others failed to bring detail to their characters. Watching the stronger performances in the play, particularly from Daniel J Kenton and Imogen Pain (Phil and Cathy), the piece felt alive. Yet other moments of the play would drop, as text is thrown at the audience without giving it any life.

I feel that some of the show’s issues may lie in the direction itself. There’s no issue with using a black box space, but when the actors are placed in a way that you can’t see someone’s performance, or that is so structured it looks unnatural, the black box immediately becomes an unnatural space that won’t become natural, no matter how many fast-changing flickering images of nature you project on the back of the space.

Additionally I’d argue that one or two characters were miscast. You can only assume this is because finding a play that will fit a specific group of people is incredibly difficult, and there’s not always enough time to find the perfect piece. With stronger direction and more work on the text, this could have been overcome. But as the piece stands, it wasn’t quite right.

DNA is certainly not an easy play. Filled with contemporary language it may appear easy, but tackling those characters is a difficult task. Although many elements of the piece were not perfect, the ensemble effort is impressive and everyone involved has created a production to be proud of. With more direction and character work, this could have been a marvel. As these performers develop with The Young Rep, I’m sure they will reach that marvel in a few shows time.   ★★★☆☆   Jeremy Ulster    30^th March 2018