Central Partners with Donmar Warehouse on Production of ‘The Trials'
Central is excited to announce its collaboration with the Donmar Warehouse on the UK premiere of ‘The Trials’, an ambitious mainstage production at the Donmar that explores the climate crisis and which marks the start of a wider partnership between the two organisations to support the development of young talent and offer pathways to higher education.
For Dawn King’s ‘The Trials’, young people aged between 12 and 19 from across London will perform alongside three leading actors on the Donmar stage in a production which places young people at its heart, imagining a future in which an older generation is put on trial for their inaction against climate change.
The production received its world premiere at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus in 2021 and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. It now plays at the Donmar as a part of its Donmar Local programme, through which it expands its work in the community and works in partnership with local organisations to identify the talent of the future and platform them and the issues that matter.
The 12 young performers will be recruited following open workshops at the Donmar, two weeks of devising sessions at Central and an audition. The process will provide young people with the opportunity to explore theatre and the climate crisis, to devise and create new works with theatre professionals and climate experts, and to audition with a leading creative team and the Donmar’s casting director. It also provides the young people with first-hand experience of working in a conservatoire setting.
Through the partnership, Central welcomed the Donmar team and 240 young people between the ages of 12 and 19 to the School in April. Across two weeks of intensive workshops, the young people were supported by Dr Selina Busby, Dr Kathrine Sandys, Central’s Outreach Team, Student Ambassadors and MA Applied Theatre students on placement.
Through the Donmar’s flagship talent development programme CATALYST, Central will also partner on the newly created Young Assistants Programme. Industry leading creatives will mentor paid 16 – 18-year-old placements on ‘The Trials’, working across set and costume design, sound design, lighting design, directing and stage management. This work, which is generously supported by The Backstage Trust, will also feature involvement from Central’s Outreach Team as well as from staff and students on the School’s BA (Hons) Theatre Practice courses.
Of the partnership, Dr Selina Busby said:
“This project is really exciting, the Donmar’s approach to involving local communities and local young people in their work aligns with the ethos of the Applied Theatre courses at Central and makes us natural partners. The two weeks of workshops in Central with artists from the Donmar was a vital opportunity for young people to be involved in theatre making at a time when cuts to school theatre provision and to the arts and youth services are reducing these opportunities.”
‘The Trials’ will play at the Donmar Warehouse between 12 August – 27 August 2022. For more information or to book, please visit the Donmar Warehouse website
