Script Factor 2024/25 Final
Sunday 6th July at 7:30pm
Theatre @41 Monkgate, York
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE SHARK!
Its finally here, the culmination of our latest season of heats, where 5 writers go head to head with 15 minute scripts, performed, script in hand, by a plethora of actors from the audience. The winner of each heat (chosen by the audience) is now faced with a new challenge.
It’s 50 years since a simple cello refrain announced the arrival of a predator that would change cinema going forever. JAWS has had a very special birthday this year and our writers must help celebrate this.
So who knows what we might get. Maybe a bit of backstory on one of the characters? Might we find out how Mayor Vaughan still manages to be in post for Jaws 2? Perhaps the writers might take us behind the scenes to see how the cast and crew cope when the temperamental shark fails to work in salty sea water. Might we simply be taken “swimmin’ with bow-legged wimmin”?
Its been said, (a lot of times by film critic, Mark Kermode) that Jaws isn’t about a shark. I’d probably say it isn’t JUST about a shark. It’s a buddy movie, a classic three act drama, an Ibsenesque rally by a lone voice of reason against a community seemingly set of putting profit against reason. It’s also been claimed to be a western, a mafia movie and even one academic paper claims it to be Steven Spielberg’s most Jewish film. I must admit that I didn’t follow the reasoning for that hypothesis. So the writers may simply ignore JAWS completely, but give us a play that on the face of it about something obvious, but is actually about something else completely. They’ll need to convince the audience though.
So, expect 5 very different takes on the theme as our five finalists, Claire Pulpher, Steve Barnes, Saeth Wheeler, Sara Murphy and Sally Mitcham try to tempt us back into the theatrical waters, while host, Andy Love in his inimitable way, which is best described as being akin to scraping your fingernails down a blackboard.
Tickets cost £6.50 + booking fee and are available from the Theatre@41 website.
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