08/08/25

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Flora Wilson Brown’s The Beautiful Future is Coming is a triptych: a thought-provoking meditation on the subject of climate change set over centuries. 

New York, 1856. Eunice (Phoebe Thomas) believes she has discovered evidence that sunlight and carbolic acid will one day have a dramatic effect on the world’s weather. She’s understandably keen to spread the word – obsessed with the notion – and she’s supported at every step by her well-meaning husband, John (Matt Whitchurch). However, nobody in the scientific community is prepared to take the word of an amateur – and what’s more, a woman – seriously.

In 2027, Claire (Nina Singh) and Dan (Jyuddah Jaymes) are based at a design agency in London where, ironically, they are working on an advertising campaign for Greenpeace. They begin a flirtation, which develops into a serious relationship. But when Dan’s mother home is flooded by a sudden, catastrophic weather event, Dan’s whole worldview is irrevocably tainted.

In 2100, scientists Malcolm (James Bradwell) and Ana (Rosie Dywer) are trapped in a research centre in Svalbard, Norway, where a storm has been raging for months. Ana is trying to conduct experiments on weather-resistant strains of wheat – and getting precisely nowhere. She is heavily pregnant and beginning to wonder if she can make it to safety before her baby arrives…

The story switches effortlessly back and forth in time, the scenes interconnecting almost seamlessly, the events occasionally echoing each other, as if to emphasise that, no matter how hard humanity tries to effect change, we hardly ever succeed. 

This complex tale is told with deceptive simplicity. The three couples move around Aldo Vázquez’s set like chess pieces on a board, while Elena Penãs atmospheric sound and Ryan Day’s lighting contribute to the play’s immersive atmosphere. For me, the only uncertain point here is Dan’s OTT reaction to his mother’s fate – there’s been no hint in his previously cheerful demeanour that such darkness lies within him.

But The Beautiful Future is Coming does have a profound impression on me, even if I can’t help feeling that the words ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’ would make an apt suffix.

4 stars

Philip Caveney