'Everyone lived like we did! Well maybe not everyone, everyone. But… I wasn't any worse than anyone else.'
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.
'A gripping climate dystopia... compelling and fascinating... a parable about the near future that's also an unsettling window into the vertiginous chaos of revolution'
— Time Out
'Chillingly compelling... convincing and urgent... a really distinct sense of fury that gives this drama its emotional fuel... haunting and thought-provoking — this is the best play about our climate emergency'
— The Arts Desk
'Bold, uncomfortable, urgent viewing... King cleverly nails not just the dystopian vision, but the evasions and lack of commitment to green living that have caused it'
— WhatsOnStage
'Exhilarating and engrossing'
— Reviews Hub
'Compelling... combines the spirit of Margaret Atwood's speculative fictions with shades of Lord of the Flies... it holds us in its grip... a play that demands self-reflection and soul-searching beyond the auditorium'
— Guardian
'Gripping... A timely and troubling speculative drama [that] imagines the grim repercussions of our current climate emergency'
— The Stage
About the Author :
Dawn King is an award-winning writer working in theatre, film, TV, VR and radio.
Her work for the stage includes: The Trials (Donmar Warehouse, London, 2022); Dystopia987 (Manchester International Festival, 2019); Salt (National Theatre Connections, 2019); an adaptation of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (Royal and Derngate Theatre and the Touring Consortium, 2015); Ciphers (Out of Joint, Bush Theatre and Exeter Northcott, 2013/14); and Foxfinder (winner of the 2011 Papatango New Writing Competition, and first staged at Finborough Theatre, London, 2011; revived in the West End in 2018).
For Foxfinder, Dawn also won the Royal National Theatre Foundation Playwright award 2013. She won Most Promising Playwright at the Off West End awards 2012 and was shortlisted for Best New Play at the Off West End awards 2012, the Susan Smith Blackburn prize 2012 and the James Tait Black drama prize 2011/2012.
Review :
'A gripping climate dystopia... compelling and fascinating... a parable about the near future that's also an unsettling window into the vertiginous chaos of revolution'
'Chillingly compelling... convincing and urgent... a really distinct sense of fury that gives this drama its emotional fuel... haunting and thought-provoking — this is the best play about our climate emergency'
'Bold, uncomfortable, urgent viewing... King cleverly nails not just the dystopian vision, but the evasions and lack of commitment to green living that have caused it'
'Exhilarating and engrossing'
'Compelling... combines the spirit of Margaret Atwood's speculative fictions with shades of Lord of the Flies... it holds us in its grip... a play that demands self-reflection and soul-searching beyond the auditorium'
'Gripping... A timely and troubling speculative drama [that] imagines the grim repercussions of our current climate emergency'
