Persephone’s Young Company puts grown-ups on trial in eco-drama
Photo Credit: Members of Persephone Theatre’s Young Company rehearse for their upcoming production of The Trials on December 2, 2023. (Julia Peterson/Saskatoon StarPhoenix)
In The Trials, set in “a near dystopian future,” juries of youth hold past generations accountable for the climate crisis.
On a break from rehearsal, looking out from the tall glass windows in the lobby of Saskatoon’s Persephone Theatre, 17-year-old Mackayla Buckmaster takes in the view: the roundabout, the bridge, the river.
Even in December, snow is lacking and the people walking past wear only light jackets or bunnyhugs. Car and truck exhaust spews from vehicles on the road; the neighbouring buildings are brightly lit.
Then Buckmaster and her fellow castmates in Persephone Theater’s Young Company get back to work on their production of The Trials, a drama set in “a near dystopian future” where juries of youth are judging past generations for what they could have done — but failed to do — to prevent a climate crisis.
