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Intro
In Part One of the play, several London teens—school friends whose smaller pairings and cliques often come together in one large group—learn a mysterious piece of bad news. Mark and Jan, two nervous worrywarts, warn Leah and Phil, a couple, that their group needs to get together and talk. The verbose, anxious, existential Leah and the silent, constantly snacking Phil follow Mark and Jan to a small woodland area where they all meet up with Lou, John Tate, and Danny. John Tate is clearly the leader of the group—confident and self-assured, he regards himself as a formidable presence at school, and the others seem terrified by his influence. Danny is a strait-laced student who worries that whatever has happened will impact his plans for his future. Lou is a pessimistic girl who’s certain they’re all doomed. Soon Richard, Cathy, and Brian join the group, and Richard announces that one of their schoolmates—Adam—is dead. As the story of what happened to Adam unfurls, it becomes clear that Mark, Jan, and several others tormented and tortured Adam as a kind of hazing ritual after the boy expressed interest in being their friend. The group’s pranks escalated in intensity and danger until Adam fell into a mine shaft at the edge of town. The others now assume he is dead and begin devising ways to cover up their inadvertent murder of their schoolmate. Phil speaks up and rolls out an elaborate plan to make it look as if Adam has been kidnapped. The others are shocked by the specificity of Phil’s plan, but he seems confident it will work. As the scene ends, however, Leah worries that their group is in big trouble.
In Part Two, Leah’s existential thoughts intensify, and she wonders what the purpose of human life on Earth is. She reveals to Phil that she killed her pet rodent Jerry for reasons she can’t determine, even as she admits that in the four days since Adam’s disappearance, things at school have been better socially. Elsewhere, back in the woods, Danny reports that the man their group described in their false police report as Adam’s kidnapper has been detained and brought into custody. Cathy reveals that she has secured DNA evidence against the man by going to a local post office and looking for a man matching the description Phil urged them to provide. Lou and Leah are outraged, and Danny insists they can’t let an innocent man go to jail. Brian, who made the original police report, is terrified of having to go back to the station to identify the “suspect,” but Phil warns Brian that there will be serious consequences if he doesn’t do as he’s told and go confirm the man’s identity.
In Part Three, Mark and Jan come upon Leah and Phil picnicking in a field. Leah is reminiscing about Adam’s memorial service, which was held recently, and Phil is eating a waffle. Leah expresses her worry for Brian, who has been so upset that he’s been heavily medicated, and for John Tate, who hasn’t been seen in weeks. Mark and Jan bring Leah and Phil to the woods—there has been more news. In the woods, Cathy, Brian, Phil, Leah, Mark, Lou, and Jan stand around a boy with a horrible head wound who is dressed like a tramp. Phil instantly recognizes the boy as Adam and greets him. Brian explains that he and Cathy found Adam living in the woods with no memory of what has happened to him. Adam explains that he’s been living on leaves and raw rabbit for several weeks. He is clearly in physical and mental distress and has no idea who he is or where he comes from. Phil asks Adam if he wants to come back to society, but the boy doesn’t answer. Phil orders Brian to take Adam back to the place he’s been living, then orders everyone else to go home and keep quiet about what they’ve seen. Leah begs Phil to get Adam some help, but Phil warns her that their lives will be ruined if they expose what they’ve done. When Brian (who is still heavily medicated) returns, Phil instructs him to take a plastic bag and go play a “game” with Adam—he shows Brian how to effectively strangle Adam and kill him for real this time. Leah begs Phil to stop, pointing out that Adam is alive. Phil retorts that if everyone already thinks Adam is dead, it doesn’t make a difference if they kill him “again.”
In Part Four, Mark and Jan discuss Leah’s disappearance—they haven’t seen her in a long time and have heard rumors she’s switched schools. Richard and Phil, meanwhile, sit together in a field and discuss how their school’s social environment has changed. John Tate has apparently found God and become an evangelist while Brian has gotten so doped up on his medications that he’s nearly catatonic. Their conversation seems to suggest that Phil has left school. Richard begs Phil to come back, but Phil doesn’t answer his friend. Richard describes a “big wind of [dandelion] fluff” he saw earlier that day and says it made him think about life on other planets and the purpose of existence. Phil sits silently, unable to respond.
