1 DNA in the classroom
-
Charlotte Bell
Abstract
This chapter considers the value of Dennis Kelly’s DNA (2007) in the context of the English Literature GCSE curriculum. Written by a secondary school English teacher, this chapter is also, in part, a call to arms: a rallying cry to encourage and empower those working across school and university sectors to collaborate more closely, both for the benefit of the young adults we work with and for, and to save drama as a discipline. Firstly, it attempts to contextualise the shifting landscape of compulsory education in the decade post-2010. Secondly, it considers the popularity of DNA as a text in the classroom before reflecting on my experiences of teaching this play at GCSE level. Finally, it reflects on the duty we have as scholars and educators of drama and theatre to champion drama as a discipline in its own right.
Abstract
This chapter considers the value of Dennis Kelly’s DNA (2007) in the context of the English Literature GCSE curriculum. Written by a secondary school English teacher, this chapter is also, in part, a call to arms: a rallying cry to encourage and empower those working across school and university sectors to collaborate more closely, both for the benefit of the young adults we work with and for, and to save drama as a discipline. Firstly, it attempts to contextualise the shifting landscape of compulsory education in the decade post-2010. Secondly, it considers the popularity of DNA as a text in the classroom before reflecting on my experiences of teaching this play at GCSE level. Finally, it reflects on the duty we have as scholars and educators of drama and theatre to champion drama as a discipline in its own right.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of illustrations vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- A foreword xii
- Introduction 1
- I Incubation 19
- 1 DNA in the classroom 21
- 2 Suspended in time and place 39
- 3 ‘I’ll teach you a thing or two’ 55
- II Antibodies 71
- 4 ‘Are you sick, yet? / Are you disgusted, yet?’ 73
- 5 Utopia 90
- 6 Beautiful doom 105
- 7 Subjectivity in Dennis Kelly’s early drama 118
- III False positives 135
- 8 ‘I just want it to be your words’ 137
- 9 ‘What is the difference between made up and real?’ 152
- 10 ‘What else isn’t true?’, or, Dennis Kelly’s expressionism 170
- 11 Atopia 184
- IV Variants 201
- 12 ‘Now look, are you going to tell me a story or not?’ 203
- 13 Dennis Kelly’s The Gods Weep at the Royal Shakespeare Company 217
- 14 Performing stories, engaging audiences 233
- Conclusion 251
- Index 264
- Plates 267
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of illustrations vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- A foreword xii
- Introduction 1
- I Incubation 19
- 1 DNA in the classroom 21
- 2 Suspended in time and place 39
- 3 ‘I’ll teach you a thing or two’ 55
- II Antibodies 71
- 4 ‘Are you sick, yet? / Are you disgusted, yet?’ 73
- 5 Utopia 90
- 6 Beautiful doom 105
- 7 Subjectivity in Dennis Kelly’s early drama 118
- III False positives 135
- 8 ‘I just want it to be your words’ 137
- 9 ‘What is the difference between made up and real?’ 152
- 10 ‘What else isn’t true?’, or, Dennis Kelly’s expressionism 170
- 11 Atopia 184
- IV Variants 201
- 12 ‘Now look, are you going to tell me a story or not?’ 203
- 13 Dennis Kelly’s The Gods Weep at the Royal Shakespeare Company 217
- 14 Performing stories, engaging audiences 233
- Conclusion 251
- Index 264
- Plates 267
