Staged in the summer of 2022 at London’s Donmar Warehouse, and premiered in Italy, The Trials takes us into the very near future, where the reckoning has begun over humanity’s injury to the environment. Outside, the air is almost unbreathable, life has become complicated and the future dismal. The very young generation is called upon to take an active part in the “trials” (referred to in the title) of people who have been guilty of crimes against sustainability. These juries of kids have life-or-death power, and the six girls and six boys the text presents us with will have to try three adults. They will be hotly debated, because the personalities and ethical and political views of these young people are profoundly different, and the responsibility they have been given is heavy. As in the best contemporary English dramaturgy, the personal element will break through in the finale, sweeping away the didactic risk of a text of such close relevance. In the play The Trials, author Dawn King imagines a future age, not too far removed from our own, a hopelessly damaged world where a jury of young people gathers to try some people from their parents’ generation. The charge brought against them is their failure to stop climate change. I chose this text precisely because of its uncomfortable and urgent vision, which presents a planet that can no longer sustain its population, where the air is so polluted you cannot open a window, where flying and eating meat are banned. The battle lines within this jury of twelve boys and girls are clear: some of the young people believe that all of the defendants are guilty because they did not act when they had the chance; others argue that without humanity and compassion, humanity itself has no future chance. The focus of the debate is on the climate crisis, the generational clash, but it also raises important questions about the issue of justice. What is the difference between justice and revenge? Can we rank guilt? Can remorse be a mitigating factor? In this theatrical tribunal the questions are addressed in no uncertain terms but the answers are not easy or immediate. The Trials is a text that functions as allegory, but it is also an exploration of the consequences that could happen if in the immediate term governments do not meaningfully address climate change. This text can be an excellent starting point for an even more intricate and difficult future question that we should all be asking ourselves today: how is it possible to promote change within a capitalist system?

Veronica Cruciani

Playbill