Former National Party leader and Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller is preparing to face a very different kind of judgment – not from voters or Parliament, but from a jury of teenagers on a theatre stage in Tauranga.

Muller is one of three adult defendants in The Trials, a hard-hitting, near-future drama by British playwright Dawn King, being staged by the Wright Rohde Academy of Performing Arts (WRAPA) at 16th Ave Theatre on Saturday January 24 and Tuesday January 27.

Set in a world only a couple of decades ahead of our own, The Trials imagines a society ravaged by climate change, where young people hold adults legally and morally accountable for the environmental damage they inherited. Twelve performers aged 12-17 form the jury, tasked with deciding whether the adults before them are guilty of crimes against the planet –and what punishment they deserve.

Next generation

The casting of Muller is particularly striking. During his parliamentary career, he served as the National Party’s spokesperson for climate change and worked across party lines on the Zero Carbon Bill, a role that earned him respect from political opponents and environmental advocates alike.

Now, he finds himself playing an adult whose life choices are dissected and judged by the next generation.

Todd Muller is acting in the play 'The Trials', being performed at 16th Ave Theatre, Tauranga, by the Wright Rohde Academy of Performing Arts. Photo / Jo Jones

“In the play, the young people are essentially saying to our generation: you should have known better,” Muller said. “You saw the signs in the 2020s, and you still made choices that benefited yourselves.”

Muller’s character is a successful professional who provided well for his family – nice homes, holidays, cars – and later tried to “give back” through community and environmental efforts. But in the eyes of the jury, those gestures may come too late.

“They say: you didn’t need two cars, you didn’t need to live the way you did,” Muller said. “You knew enough to act differently.”

Stage debut

For Muller, who lives in Tauranga and retired from Parliament in 2023, the role has both personal and professional resonance. Climate change remains “very close to my heart”, he said, making the play’s central question – how today’s actions will be judged tomorrow – especially confronting.

“It’s very thought-provoking,” he said. “It forces you to ask: if I were on trial in 20 years’ time, how would I be found?”

The Trials is Muller’s first appearance on stage, something he admits is both terrifying and exhilarating. Unlike politics, he said, theatre offers no room to improvise.

“As a politician, you can make it up as you go along. You can’t do that in a play. You must get every word right.”

The production is WRAPA’s first straight play, following years of successful musical theatre work. WRAPA co-director Elise Rohde said the decision was driven by a desire to showcase the academy’s young actors in a more stripped-back, character-driven work.

“We have incredibly talented students, and we wanted something where they didn’t have to sing and dance – just act and tell a powerful story,” Rohde said. “This play gives them that opportunity.”

Todd Muller surrounded by the jury is acting in The Trials, a hard-hitting drama about the climate crisis and intergenerational conflict. Photo / Jo Jones

WRAPA co-director and The Trials director Natalie Wright said she had been waiting years to stage the play, describing it as “raw and ugly” in the best possible way.

“It gives the audience something to think about when they leave,” Wright said. “It certainly made me question myself – would I be found guilty or not guilty?”

Alongside Muller, the adult defendants are Tauranga Art Gallery director Sonya Korohina and BOPRC communications team leader Laura Boucher. There is no judge in the courtroom – the young jury makes the final decision.

“That’s what makes it so confronting,” Wright said. “The power sits entirely with the next generation.”

Thought experiment

With the audience seated close to the action in an in-the-round staging, the production promises an intense and immersive experience. Tickets are $20 per adult, and the show runs for about 90 minutes.

For Muller, the experience is less about verdicts and more about conversation.

“This is a thought experiment,” he said. “It asks all of us to reflect on how we’re living now – and how that might look through the eyes of our kids.”

The Trials is on at 16th Ave Theatre, Tauranga, on Saturday January 24 and Tuesday January 27, at 7pm. Tickets are available via TryBooking.