NHB Modern Plays The Beautiful Future is Coming

A fast-paced, funny and wildly inventive play about the end of the world, covering two hundred and fifty years of real and imagined history. 'Can you feel it? Something is hanging in the balance – ready to fall.' 1856. New York. Eunice sits in what will become Central Park, and wonders if her research into CO2 is telling her something is going horribly wrong. 2027. London. Claire falls in love as the heatwave breaks, and the streets begin to flood. 2100. Svalbard. While an 86-day storm rages outside, Ana hears a baby crying in the seed vault. The world is ending, sure. But what happens in between? A fast-paced, funny and wildly inventive play, Flora Wilson Brown's The Beautiful Future is Coming looks at two hundred and fifty years of real and imagined history through the eyes of three couples. First performed at Jermyn Street Theatre, London, in 2024, this edition was published alongside a new production at Bristol Old Vic in 2025, directed by the theatre's Artistic Director Nancy Medina.