The Trials

by Dawn King

The near future. The climate emergency is gathering pace, and our generation is being judged. The jurors are children. But are they delivering justice – or just taking revenge? Dawn King's searing play  The Trials  was first performed at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus in January 2022, and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. It received its British premiere at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in August 2022, directed by Natalie Abrahami. The Trials  offers an exciting opportunity for theatre companies to address the climate emergency and intergenerational conflict, as the jury of 12 to 17-year-olds hold the stage alongside three adult defendants.

Genres: Plays, Dystopia, Climate Change, School

80 pages, Paperback

Published December 19, 2023

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all plays, this was much better in person. My family and I saw The Trials back in August 2022 and it was amazing! It was very moving and raised a lot of important points about our rapidly changing climate; how we can be doing so much more to help.
When reading the book it still had a similar effect but wasn't quite as enjoyable (though still very good). This may be because I already knew what to expect. Despite this, I recommend reading the book since the play is sadly no longer on.

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tis a play! love the premise, I think I needs like two more days in the writing room to give some more context maybe, but over all very good. Great watch as well!

[Phoebe Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remarkable and simply stunning. Dawn King's "The Trials" is an insightful, meditative re-imagining of our legal system when left in the hands of children in a post-climate crisis future. In a world where the current generation is tried and convicted for "crimes against the earth," twelve teenagers battle to understand their ruined lives while navigating love, friendship, forgiveness, and betrayal. This play is a thoughtful consideration of human nature with a fast-paced plot and compelling characters. Admittedly, at times, I did wish for further analysis and deeper connections to historical events, but, at its core, the story was cleverly crafted and well-explained. For those of us who find truth through the power of theater and language, I highly recommend, though be prepared to leave with a heavy heart.

[dais watson🍂☕️]

massively bias as i was in this but the plot twist ate

[Caitlin Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful!

[iris. · Rating 1 out of 5]

musste dieses drama für uni lesen und ich war noch nie so verwirrt und irritiert von einem buch/play. ich fand das voll schlecht lol

[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... it's certainly a play about climate change. This is probably the worst case scenario of what could happen in the future, and is quite nightmarish if you actually consider the contents. 12-18 year olds are considering the deaths of people who had no choice but to partake in capitalism (no matter how the jurers try and convince themselves otherwise). How have they even organised the world to be decentered from fossil fuel reliance and over-consumption? What are they running the world on? I assume that renewable energy has become more efficient in this world, but it would've been nice to have this explained to us. I think the premise was exciting but desperately needed to be fleshed out; it almost needed a movie introduction, with a narrator explaining what has happened to the world, like in most dystopian films. I didn't fully understand the context and what the world was like in the play, which took me out of the narrative.

The characters themselves? Whilst some have backstories, they all seem pretty one dimensional apart from Noah and Ren. More definitely could've been done with these narrative sidekicks and I think it's a shame we don't get to hear more of their stories. I understand this is a play but it needed some more padding to feel less stunted. I'm not saying that it doesn't work, but it really needs some more oven time to cook a little longer.

Overall, the play is a thoughtful criticism of how some want to approach climate change or just situations that require mass judgement. I think that children shouldn't be made complicit in the failure of previous generations, pretty hunger games-esque if you ask me. And the defendants? Were they not victims of the systems they partook in? I mean, how could they live eco- consciously in a world that centres around consumerism and over-production? No matter what they did or we do, we cannot escape much of it. As the play showed, even those that tried to live more green were still condemned and if that is the case, would any of us survive?

[Santiago Guerra Arrangóiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a bleak, vague, play. Morally ambiguous. I just thought the characters needed to be more fleshed out. But it does raise some concerns about activism, the environmental future and who’s really to blame. What’s the right answer? Is this vengeful approach the right way to go? I need more details to bring the point close to home. But damn, are these teenagers cold…however, the stakes are there, so…it was too ambiguous for me. I understand the world and what’s the picture here, I just needed more time and complexity from the characters other than the world in which they’re in.

[Joanna Hutcherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I'm cheating with all the plays but. It's a strong drama.

[St Tho · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read that leaves a lasting impression.

[Melissa Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure at the start, but it's got me at the end.

[Megan Wiseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

wrote my big final english essay about this play because i love it so damn much
Climate change 😡

[Olivia Lunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

woah

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely terrifying and very eye opening.

[Debbie Urbanski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an uncomfortable, disturbing, thought-provoking play that asks many difficult questions about the climate crisis and the role we play in it, willingly or unwillingly, by being alive during this time. Are the teenage jurors acting rightly or wrongly as they deliver their verdicts on my generation? The beauty of using a jury setting is that there is going to be disagreement (think Twelve Angry Men), which leaves room for fascinating discussion and the slow reveal of tragic backstories. So many questions are raised, and I loved that I never felt led to any particular answer, meaning the play required me to do some hard work and introspection myself.

I was fascinated at how smoothly the worldbuilding of the play happens through details of the near future slipping in through natural dialogue. Heartbreaking details, like when a pair of jurors imagine that there is snow all around them -- that's the sort of imaginative play that happens now.

I'd love to see this in person someday but in the meantime, I'm very glad that I read it.

I wrote more about this play on my Substack (scroll down to the second half)

[booklove · Rating 5 out of 5]

King’s book is a wonderful book that should be read by all and carries a huge importance message that is still relevant today even more so now than ever the only thing I found with this book was I knew something that were going to happen before they did now I think that a individual thing myself and a friend both got it but others in our group didn’t
Overall go get yourself a copy and read it and think about it let the important sink in because this isn’t a dystopian story this is a window into all our futures and if you ever get the chance to see it performed go!