Janet Shaw

Janet Shaw was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire on the 3rd April 1950. She discovered a love of writing poetry at about thirteen and loved every minute of essay writing in English classes. She won an essay competition run by the local Provost between local schools.  When leaving school in 1965 there was nowhere to continue with her love of the theatre so it was put on the back burner to simmer for the next 30 years.

She went on to marry and have three children. Sadly the marriage ended in divorce at the birth of her identical twin girls and in 1983 she found herself alone to bring up three daughters.  She enrolled into her local college to study creative writing.  This was to be a turning point in her life; she stayed with the course for two years and discovered she had a knack for writing short stories. She was asked to write a small play for her eldest daughter’s school. Then came a twist, she started a drama club at school with two music teachers and they decided to write a musical for the children to perform. Janet’s love of poetry was to be put to use at last and she became a lyric writer. A youth theatre was formed and they went on to write and perform nine full-length musicals for young people. The youth theatre was a huge success but Janet became disillusioned with the politics evolving from the set up of a committee, so decided to branch out and form her own drama society featuring adult comedy.

She went to see John Godber’s ‘Bouncers’ and thought, “I can do that” … and so she did. Her society Jaba Inc was formed and their first production premiered at Wakefield Theatre Royal and Opera House in May 1996, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Janet has since gone on to write seven two-act comedies and is now working on her eighth. She has also written a Christmas play to be performed for young children and has a six part sit com waiting for someone in television to develop.

Janet re-married in 1989 and for many years she and husband Barry ran a pub, but they have since retired, and they, with Janet’s daughters close by, live in Ossett, West Yorkshire. 

Writer's Website

•  n/a

Titles We Represent

• 'Behind Closed Doors'
• 'Charade'
• 'Full Circle'
• 'Love Is A Four Letter Word'
• 'One Day I'll Fly Away'
• 'Playing Away'
• 'Pretzels For Dinner'
• 'Revenge'
• 'Stand And Deliver'
• 'Whatever Happened To Ruby Quicksilver?'