Carbon dated The time-travelling guide to the climate crisis

A hopeful and humorous take on climate change, The Beautiful Future is Coming features Bristol-based actress Phoebe Thomas - star of Holby City and Rain Dogs.

- NATALIE BANYARD caught up with her

FULL of heart, hope, humour and humanity, The Beautiful Future is Coming is one of the most hotly anticipated productions to appear at Bristol Old Vic in 2025.

Written by Flora Wilson Brown and directed by Bristol Old Vic’s artistic director Nancy Medina, this ambitious play is a fast-paced, funny and wildly inventive look at the climate crisis told through the eyes of three couples over 250 years of real and imagined history.

The play, which garnered rave reviews as part of the Jermyn Street Theatre's Footprints Festival in early 2024, is now being further developed by Bristol Old Vic for a major run in the theatre from May 15 to June 7.

The eagerly awaited production will feature an exceptional ensemble, who are currently in rehearsals at the King Street Theatre. Among these is Phoebe Thomas, a familiar face on British television and in theatre.

The actress, who lives in Bristol with her husband and three children, gained prominence portraying nurse Maria Kendall in the BBC medical drama Holby City from 2006 to 2010. Her television career also includes notable roles in Rain Dogs, Agatha Raisin and Call The Midwife.

The last time I spoke to Phoebe was over a decade ago. First, when she was starring as sharp-tongued street walker Louisa in The Life and Times of Fanny Hill alongside Caroline Quentin and, before that, as the titular character in the award-winning, joyous production Hetty Feather, both at Bristol Old Vic.

“I can’t believe it was that long ago!” says Phoebe. “In that time, I've had three beautiful boys, I've been bedding into life in Bristol, which I love, and still doing screen and theatre work. I’m also now working with young people at the Bristol Conservatoire of Theatre Arts, which I love and it makes me feel inspired and grounded.”