Tracking the cover-up from panic to psychopathy
Dennis Kelly deliberately loops the play through three settings: A Street, A Field, and A Wood. This cyclical structure creates a sense of entrapment. No matter what the gang does, they always end up back in the woods where the original crime took place. Mention this structural choice to show your understanding of the playwright's intentions.
The gang meets in the woods in a state of panic. We learn that a bullying incident escalated out of control. They threw stones at a boy named Adam while he walked on a grille over a deep shaft. Adam fell in, and the gang assumes he is dead. John Tate desperately tries to maintain control of the group through intimidation.