“Like dead, dead?”

“Yes.”

“Proper dead, not living dead?”

“Not living dead, yes.”

“Are you sure?”

How can they be sure? Did anyone see him, or was the vodka playing tricks with their eyes? Dennis Kelly’s disturbing and haunting DNA, directed by Erik Richards, is a story of a group of young people facing a crisis, and how they’re able (or not) to handle their predicament. Performed by a group of up-and-coming young actors, DNA is like a thriller film come to life before your eyes.

The Theatre Centre’s BMO Incubator Space has been transformed into a grungy, makeshift hideout. Real leaves, pallets and tarps covered in graffiti, and the refuse accumulated from past parties litters the stage. Immediately you get the feeling that this is a frequently used outpost for the group, and the opening vignette of their party only confirms those suspicions. It’s their home base, their meeting spot, a place of retreat for when the world gets to be too much. And the world is about to be far too much for any of them to handle.

It’s a party night like any other…until Adam goes missing. No one realizes it at the time, it’s not until many hours later that Mike tells Jan, and the rest of the group, what’s happened. Though the current “leader” of the group, who’s really quite the bully, John Tate begins to attempt to formulate a plan, it all seems to fall on the quietest member of the group, Ray, to solve this problem. Though Ray’s plan to divert suspicion from the teens seems foolproof, the rest of the team quickly prove that theory wrong. As the lies begin to compound and more people are implicated in Adam’s disappearance, will the stress become too much? Or will their determination grow more steely in the process?

DNA has a very “Lord of the Flies” type feel to it, though the story’s very condensed: there’s a group of young people who start with one leader (who’s a bully), then switch to another leader (who’s also a bit of a bully), all while one of their compatriots has died at their hands. This modern retelling and re-staging of this well known story also displays the brutality which is possible from young people; Leah, who seems very sweet and well meaning, kills her own hamster and threatens harm to herself to gain favour with Ray, and what they ultimately decide to do about their “Adam situation” defies logic. It’s like the vulgarity in “South Park”, people used to think that it was over the top, yet the creators based it off of their own childhood. Likewise Kelly exposes the potential cruelty of youth through this scenario. It’s also interesting to see how their drive, ambition, and place in the social standing of the group affects how they deal with the barbarity around them. Some of them emerge as unlikely leaders while others fully break down, some leave as it will clearly affect their futures, while others only abandon the situation once things have fully broken down. Though the content itself is disconcerting, it’s also an exploration of the limits of human cruelty told through the eyes and actions of teens.

Icarus Theatre has assembled an ensemble of emerging talent to tackle this ambitious play. Morgan Roy’s Leah and Chantal Grace’s Ray are perfect foils for one another: Roy has a bold stage presence and Leah is very chatty and thoughtful, while Grace’s Ray is quiet until absolutely necessary, and even then Ray can be forceful in her instructions to the other teens. Seydina Soumah’s Mike and Avril Brigden’s Jan somehow always seem to be the bearers of the bad news, which gives the two of them these mysterious scenes full of choppy dialogue which the two handle well. Brennan Bielefeld’s Danny is delightfully neurotic, his sole concern of his future in dentistry initially garners laughs yet wears thin as the situation becomes more dire. Haneen Paima’s Lou is the often-ignored voice of reason, and presents an interesting counterpart to Ivan Anand’s Richard, who also floats on the periphery of the group until the story’s conclusion. Jonah Fleming makes an impact with the little stage time he gets as John Tate; he’s the initial leader of the group whose intimidation tactics Ray seems to have picked up. Emily Anne Corcoran plays the slightly unhinged Cathy; she gives her a decided wild side which is frightening. However, some of the stand out performances come from Zaniq King as Bryn and Jeremy Foot as Boy. Both characters go through trauma and have psychotic breaks in various ways. Both King and Foot embody these breaks in unique ways, yet they’re equally as gut-wrenching and unsettling.

DNA is certainly not for the faint of heart; the content warnings on this play are certainly warranted. Yet we watch similar crime stories on the big and small screen all the time; just this time the story is being told from the perspective of the unknown culprits. Like Golding’s story, seeing our own inhumanity acted out by young people puts into stark relief the lengths we can be willing to go for our own safety and perceived innocence.

DNA runs in the BMO Incubator at The Theatre Centre until November 16. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.icarustheatre.ca/season2526

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Cover Photo: The cast of DNA. Photo by Elena Emer.

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