Our imperilled planet in three acts

The Beautiful Future Is Coming
Bristol Old Vic; until 7 June

Theatre has its own chemistry. When all its elements are put together in proper proportion, something new comes into being. The effect can be exhilarating, as demonstrated in the opening scenes of Flora Wilson Brown’s new play, brilliantly directed by Bristol Old Vic’s AD, Nancy Medina.

We enter the auditorium to atmospheric sounds of rain and thunder (sound by Elena Peña; music by Femi Temowo). The stage seems to shimmer with falling rain, as Ryan Day’s lights play off Aldo Vázquez’s set: a mirrored floor creates puddles; three tall metallic screens give the impression of sheets of water – in the course of the action, lights and screens, sound and music, effectively shape multiple moods and settings.

The Beautiful Future Is Coming is structured as a triptych, thematically centred around the subject of climate change as viewed across three time periods, which criss-cross, intersect and overlap intriguingly. Back in the 19th-century US, the experiments of Eunice (Phoebe Thomas) show the significance of the effect of sunlight and carbolic acid. Although encouraged by her husband, John (Matt Whitchurch), her work is disregarded by a sexist scientific establishment (based on experiences of the real-life Eunice Foote).

In 2027 London, Claire (Nina Singh) and Dan (Michael Salami) work in marketing (currently, designing tote bags for Greenpeace), fall in love and suffer the terrible consequences of climate-related flooding.

Trapped by a months’-long storm in a 21st-century scientific facility in Svalbard, Ana (Rosie Dwyer) and Malcolm (James Bradwell) are trying to realise her experiment on weather-resilient strains of wheat and hoping they can get home before the baby she is expecting arrives.

The early, establishing scenes are witty and dynamic, drawing us emotionally into the characters’ worlds (terrific performances from the ensemble). Over the second half, though, the action becomes schematic, description takes the place of drama and a promising play becomes too obviously a pretext for a not altogether justified message of hope in the face of climate disaster.

Photograph Ellie Kurttz