Esther

Description

Esther in the style of Fleabag. When you’re chosen for being beautiful and compliant, how possible is it to resist the inexorable corporate power wielded behind closed doors in the misogynistic world of the ultra powerful. Esther, a well educated modern woman, desperate for a job, narrates her own story as it unfolds, giving us a God’s-eye-view as she interviews for a lowly position within X-Oil and is instead fast tracked to the top. Uncomfortable that her success is due in no small part to her beauty she fights to assert herself and stand up for the voiceless Her position gives her an insight into the power wielded by callous corporate executives and she must find the courage to prevent an environmental and ecological catastrophe in her home country. Global X-Oil tycoon, Sir Xerxes earns more in ten minutes than most people could dream of in a lifetime. Esther, though sickened by the extravagance, manages to divorce her emotions from work in order to survive. Till she finds herself in a position where to say nothing is going to cost her everything.

Biblical Connection

I am using the story of Esther and retelling it through a contemporary lens. Our Esther is an unconventionally beautiful woman who is plagued with self doubt and has a breezy chatty nature with the viewer. King Xerxes of the Persian Empire becomes a distant and untouchable oil tycoon who has become so divorced from the repercussions of his actions that morality just doesn’t seem to apply. Mordecai, a man from her home town and Esther’s only friend at X-Oil, will be an accountant who uncovers embezzling at X-oil. Having saved the company millions Mordecai is rewarded with a coveted promotion, causing extreme resentment in Xerxes own personal Worm-tongue, Haman. Motivated by his jealousy, Haman launches a personal project to route a devastating oil pipeline through the delicate ecology of Mordecai’s home region. His plan completely backfires when Esther finds her courage and intervenes directly with Xerxes advocating for both her and Mordecai’s people. The story will be told with a light, comedic hand, with Esther’s humanity at the very core, surrounded by people who have forgotten theirs.