Writer: Dawn King
Director: Vicky Moran
Reviewer: Christine Stanton
“Riveting & Reflective”
4 / 5
Set in a courtroom in the future, 12 young adults on a jury are taking part in the climate trials, set to decide the fate of people with a large carbon footprint, all of which ignored the climate crisis until it was too late.
The “dinosaurs” in question are the older generation who ignored the warning signs, each with different reasoning as to why they didn’t take climate change as seriously as they should have. Defendant One (Hywel Simons) worked in advertising, travelled frequently and claims everything he did was to support his family. Defendant Two (Kacey Ainsworth) often opted for the train and chose not to have children because of the impact, but her carbon footprint was still over the global average from the time. Defendant Three (Nancy Crane) is remorseful of her companies greenwashing credentials, but is it enough? With guilty verdicts resulting in euthanasia to alleviate some of the burden and reallocate the scare resources remaining on the planet, it makes for tough decisions the group need to decide on, but can they all agree?
Dawn King’s fantastically intriguing, excellently written narrative is executed wonderfully by the cast from the Southwark Playhouse Young Ensemble. All aged between 19-25, the talent on stage is impressive, with the riveting storyline leaving a strong lasting impact long after you leave the theatre. The tension within the juries debates is built up well, with each character having their own personality stamp and individual mark on the narrative as a whole. Ren (Emma Judge) takes the lead as foreperson, measured and fair, she’s determined to get a balanced result from the proceedings, while Hamida (Syam Stewart) is sympathetic – looking at each case from the view of the laws and common practices from the time. On the flip side, Noah (Harry Japes) and Gabi (Rachel Greenwood) are angry and resentful for the state of the world, intent on dishing out as many guilty verdicts as possible. Having each of the differing viewpoints, real examples of destruction, and the interactions between characters varying between humorous, emotional and angry add a wonderful element of genuine realism to the conversations.
Running at 90 minutes, it does honestly feel as though you are a fly on the wall at a legitimate jury hearing. Personal accounts from each of the jurors help to explain some of their views or arguments – such as Sasha’s (Dominique Vincent) parents being activists, and her desperation to live up to their expectation, or of privileged Kako (Scarlett Molyneux), who joined her fathers in living a poor climate life before new, stricter rules were implemented. Tommie (Nina Amos) is playful and flippant, frequently imagining a life that once was, Amelia (Evie Desheva) is an anxious, nervous wreck, horrified at being put in a position of taking a life. Ada (Josie Surminski) is clever, but shy, Zoe (Josie Surminski) is curious and open-minded, Marcia (Anne-Elizabeth Sowah) takes a moment to meditate and calm the chaos, while Chris (Rowan Miller) has a huge crush, so is mainly focusing on Noah. These snippets give fantastic insight into the psyches of the jurors, and allow a well-balanced, varied array of backgrounds, ideas and explanations that resonate with many. Each of the cast members do an excellent job and keep the audience engaged throughout.
It is quite ironic that there is a huge plastic water cooler and disposable paper cups – whether this is an oversight is unclear, but hoping it is a subtle comment on how the higher ups in Government are happy to pass a law to penalise individuals, while passing the buck and ignoring the changes they themselves should be implementing on a wider scale. With the climate crisis already an intense global issue – the individuals vs corporations impact is referenced throughout the script, but by scrutinising ordinary members of the public and putting their lifestyles on trial, really puts the spotlight back onto the audience, making it hard not to weigh up your own contributions to the crisis. An extremely well performed, thought-provoking production.
Runs until 29th August 2025
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