A packed and steamy Soho Theatre Studio saw the final of the All Mixed-Up competition at a showcase on Saturday night. An enthusiastic audience was joined by judges Freema Agyeman, Philip Hedley CBE, and Susan Nickson to see extracts from the six final scripts performed by a hard-working and talented cast of ten versatile actors.
The first script of the evening - Champs by Ben Syder and Jonathan Wright - was the winner, with Ben and Jonny receiving a 脗拢1000 option fee for further development of their script, a show about two friends from Yorkshire getting to grips with life in London.
The final script, Human, Right? by Tom Glover was the runner-up, with Tom winning a 脗拢500 option fee. The show is set in a small, under-funded human rights charity with a reputation for colourful stunts.
Although the plan was to make two awards, the judges decided to make a special award to Sophie Petzal for her script The God Committee, about a pregnant teenage girl and the four potential fathers. The emotion of the situation shone through.
The judges deliberated for an hour, and there was some lively discussion before the winners were chosen and the results were announced.
For the three writers who missed out - Dan Brierly, Wally Jiagoo and Nimer Rashed - there was both sympathy and admiration. The quality of all the work was extremely high, and the judging process difficult. Trying genuinely to say that everyone who made it to the last was a winner, and that we want to stay in touch, doesn't really make it easier.
A collaboration between the 主播大秀 College of Comedy and TriForce Promotions, the competition sought scripts which reflected the diversity of life in Britain. There were just over 300 entries. The short-listed writers had to submit complete scripts for a workshop in October, and then rewrote the opening pages - some quite radically - to provide a maximum of 15 minutes for the performance.
The next stage is to develop the winning scripts to the point where they can be put into the commissioning process and compete with other projects for a pilot or a series commission. Winning the competition is the first step on a rocky road, but we'll do our best to heave as many rocks out of the way as possible.