Theatre Review: Young Rep Festival of Order and Chaos: The Trials

Trigger warning: This article contains themes which are sensitive and may be upsetting

The Young Rep is back following its theatre festival in 2022 with another fantastic run. This year’s theme focuses heavily on politics and morality, featuring two weeks of plays from across genres and time periods – some works more familiar than others. This group of young people are a credit to young actors in Birmingham and the talent we have to showcase across the city.

On the 21st July I had the privilege of attending the opening of the Young Rep Hub, a transformed office space within the Birmingham Repertory Theatre which will become a space for creative practice, a rehearsal room, a place to take new ideas and provide all manner of new opportunities, with a massive focus on accessibility and inclusivity. The patron is Baroness Floella Benjamin, after whom the Hub has been named, and hearing her speak of the importance of the arts at the opening was wonderful. She stressed the importance of looking after young people and hoped that this space would become “a conveyor belt of creativity”: a brilliant phrase and a brilliant sentiment. No doubt this sums up the last two weeks of youth theatre.

The Trials, Young Rep 21st July

Dawn King’s The Trials takes place in an eerily near future. It imagines a world where the young people of the planet are asked to participate in juries which assess the guilt of adults who knowingly (or unknowingly) contributed to the collapse of the climate, with a particular focus on carbon limits. This is an urgent, searing play. Already it feels close to home. Performed by young people, many of them being watched by parents and older family members, it could not be more relevant. The morality of both the characters and the audience is at stake. It posits a generational divide of massive proportions and you can certainly feel it in the atmosphere.

Performed by young people, many of them being watched by parents and older family members, it could not be more relevant

The set is harsh: a large metal structure with a platform and steps on either side. In a row across the top is the Young Rep company of actors, the jury: dressed in boiler suits and staring down at the defendants. The defendants are the only adults in the cast. They are three of Birmingham’s own actors: Graeme Rose, Janice Connolly, and Tonia Daley-Campbell. Among the defendants are some who wilfully damaged the environment and others who felt they had no choice; all their arguments will be thoroughly put to the test.

After the first statement has been given, the jury file down to the stage where they introduce themselves. This is a tense, well-acted scene. It is clear from the outset that this is an assured, talented company of young people. They speak well, their characterisation is fantastic, and the moments of humour are outrageously funny. Tomaz and Mohammad in particular are standout performances: their jarring, off-beat, and difficult characters represent the complexities of such a dangerous undertaking and the actors do a tremendous job in portraying this.

This whole group of young actors are incredibly well assembled and their ability to perform the most difficult of moral questions on stage is a credit to their undeniable talent. In particular, the way they lean into their characters is marvellous: each character is clearly defined, executed with skill, and the intense, contradictory nature of the conversations between them was an absolute delight to watch.

It is clear from the outset that this is an assured, talented company of young people

This play leans heavily into the ethics of judgement and being judged: how far can young people judge the actions of their elders and what does it mean to be judged when you have contributed to environmental disaster? This production made a crucial point of focusing on elements of contemporary socio-political discourse: issues of vegetarian and veganism, how ethical it really is to be having more children on an over-populated planet, and whether we can be held responsible for the actions of our employer when we benefit from their climate crimes. I think I speak for myself and the whole of the audience when I say that this performance has not left me and I have spent my time since watching it urgently re-considering the choices I make and have made in my life concerning the future of the planet.

Not a moment among this group of young actors is wasted

Towards the end of the first half of the play, as the jury discuss their judgement of the second defendant, having convicted the former, we learn the shocking truth of what they are really doing: a guilty conviction is a death sentence. This revelation violently propels the action of the second half. In harrowing scenes we discover that someone in the room is linked to the final defendant. The character in question – no spoilers from us at Redbrick – is acted with phenomenal grace and ability by the young girl playing her. I was very impressed at the dexterity of her expression and the way this change on stage had a clear ripple effect across the scene.

Undoubtedly the conclusion of this play and its characters is a vital one. Ethics, guilt and carbon limits are at the forefront of everything you see here. Not a moment among this group of young actors is wasted and the vast array of characters, from some who believe from the outset all defendants are automatically guilty, to others who believe that even holding these juries is morally wrong and utterly unforgivable, this is a five-star performance of inter-generational conflict and consequences.