Designers Note | Aldo Vázquez
13 May 2025
We caught up with Aldo Vázquez about his incredible design for The Beautiful Future is Coming, his inspiration and the challenges of creating a set that works across a 244 year timeline...
In this production the inspiration for the design came from the idea of a big glass box, similar to the materials used in a greenhouse - a space where the characters are confined.
Because the play moves between three different time periods and at times they overlap, we thought of an abstract, liminal space that could be flexible but also give a sense of the expanse of the time. There are 244 years between the first period of 1856 and the point furthest in the future of 2100.
The aim was for this minimal approach regarding the set to spotlight the story and performers.
The finish of the set is inspired by the idea of ever changing sky; dynamic, temperamental, uncertain.
The use of mirror as a reflective surface was also another thought that we explored, double images, double realities and memory as the characters move through the space.
The elements were also a big inspiration and we have included the elements, water, fire, wind and earth in the set, as climate change is at the core of this play.
We thought of how they could be represented and give us a physical sense of them in the space as fires, floods, storms are part of the different timelines and how they connect.
The considerations we had for the costume design is how to define the different eras and how each of them has a different relationship with garments and resources.
We wanted to show how in the 1856 the start of the industrial revolution, garments are hand made, expensive and take longer to produce in contrast with 2027 where the characters change and have several costumes, making a comment on fast fashion and how wasteful this timeline is.
In 2100 we thought how the clothes would look in a time where the resources are limited, we imagined they would be back to handmade or bare minimum use of mass production. Plastic is less favoured, more reused pieces and gendered clothing is no longer an interest but more of a universal silhouette.
With both elements, set & costume we had a consideration of what the carbon footprint would be, where the materials have come from, and if we can rehome/resell elements to make this production a less wasteful production.
