Ten Minutes to Shine: The 2025 Barron Scriptwriting Competition

The Barron Scriptwriting Competition is held every year. One young talented writer receives a cash prize and the chance to put on their own show at the theatre. This year, I was excited to review. I had heard how different each of the shows were, and as a fellow writer, I was eager to meet likeminded students (and suss out the competition of course).

The lights dimmed and the first mini-show began. 4AM hospital, written by Buster Ratcliffe Van der Geest, told the story of two men in a hospital waiting room. A Durham student (we all know the type) and a landscape gardener. What the show lacked in plot, it made up for with good writing and excellent performances from its actors.

It is hard to write a fiction that lasts only ten minutes. Characters need to be introduced and the tone needs to be set, there is a lot that needs to be done. St Andrews theatre often consists of posh people writing about other posh people. This can be funny, if done right, but it can also become repetitive. Van der Geest took on the class divide that few student writers in St Andrews attempt to examine.

The second show, What You Left Behind, was similarly sad. A brother has a conversation with his sister who has just taken her own life. Wouldn’t we all love this opportunity? To talk to those we have lost? Karoline Foss attempts to answer the question, philosophising about the complex nature of grief, its roots in anger, sadness and love. While the writing was a little cliché, the sibling relationship is something that has always and will forever evade definition.

Lou Lou Sloss’s Sinking Feeling was my personal favourite. Spoiler alert, she did win. Sloss is a well seasoned writer in St Andrews — I expected it to be funny, and hilarious it was. The rom-com is a tough nut to crack, but I loved the show’s whimsy, and it seems the judges did too.

The last two shows took on more of an absurd tone, Heath Row by India Kolb and The Big Onion by Gretchen Mills were downright bizarre. Kolb took us to an airport where administrative hell ran wild. The show had some great jokes, but the writing heavily relied on its actors for them to land.

The Big Onion told the story of, wait for it, a big onion. The surrealist comedy was another favourite of the audience. I was unsure what was happening, but there is something satisfying about leaving mystified. I am eager to see what Mills brings us next, a huge turnip perhaps? All I know is that I’ll be there. 

The Barron Scriptwriting Competition is an amazing event for young writers to showcase their work. This year’s finalists, although varied in every sense of the word, all deserved their place in the final. It is daunting having your work shown to a panel of judges, but each writer had a clear voice. Comedy in particular is a difficult genre, and I am so delighted that there are so many budding comedians at work. I left the Barron full of hope that the coming year, in terms of theatre, may be a funny one. 

Photo provided by The Barron