Most students at uni face the same fears and issues. Above all, uncertainty looms. All of our characters reflect this, each facing uncertain futures. A slacker whose life is rapidly going nowhere, a woman who fi nds strange powers thrust upon her, a man on the verge of losing his livelihood, a woman forced to uproot her home and young people who face intolerance all convey the same concern common amongst uni students… “Where am I going next? What does my future hold?” Sometimes it comes out funny – a confederacy of pinheads doing the wrong thing. Sometimes it’s tragic – a man stoned for his lifestyle. Sometimes it comes out as a shout (Stacy-Marks) and sometimes you must listen for it in the whisper (Prochaski). The characters in these scripts are not the only ones going through changes. Each script was a learning experience, a journey voluntarily taken on the part of the student. They all grew in some way, although we may never know exactly how. To some extent every script is a struggle within the writer. No one writes a script without attempting to make sense of something in life, even if it results in absurdity. The results contained herein are not just pieces of fiction; they are also the very real results of student writers challenging themselves and changing. This is something to which we as teachers can only act as a catalyst, and no more. We can teach, tutor, inspire and encourage, but at some point, when the workshop weekend is over, you must go off and write again. And when you do, you are always on your own. So hats off to Jamie, Gemma, Rod, Nat and Shari, the students of Bath Spa’s MA in Scriptwriting programme. May they continue to grow and challenge themselves. And may they continue to make us proud.
Doug Chamberlin
Senior Lecturer MA Scriptwriting