“IT is not a patois festival.” That’s the word from Dr Tony Sewell, creator of the Jamaica Shakespeare Championship, the finals of which are set for the Little Theatre in St Andrew today.

Sewell explained that the schools in the finals will showcase a 30-minute adaptation of Shakespeare’s work set in a Jamaican context, while staying faithful to the original language.

“It is up to the teachers and mentors of the schools to set the play in Jamaica while keeping the Shakespearean language. They are, however, allowed to utilise the musicality, rhythm and accent of their native Jamaica,” he said.

For the conceptuliser, one of the real eye-openers coming from the championships is the manner in which students have embraced the work of this literary master.

“The students have been really positive towards the championship and the work. Many persons are of the view that students find Shakespeare difficult and boring, and we have found that this is quite the opposite and the work has really been embraced.”

“The students have actually been surprised by how the work of Shakespeare is similar to the Jamaican culture. When you take a school like Waterford High, they have taken on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the way the kids relate to this work is just amazing. They have brought a new dinemension to the work, which only points to the universality of Shakespeare’s work,” said Sewell.

In addition to Waterford, the other schools with a shot at the top prize are Wolmer’s Boys’ and Girls’ Taming of the Shrew; American International School of Kingston Henry V; St Hugh’s and Kingston College Merchant of Venice; Ardenne Macbeth; Glenmuir Othello; and Campion College Macbeth.

For Sewell, this has not only been a learning curve for the students, but for their teachers as well.

“This is a whole new experience for the teachers as well. Although many have been to college and drama school and head the drama departments at their respective schools, this has just served to develop their capacity to direct and stage a production. The championship has also put these teachers in touch with a number of theatre experts such as Trevor Nairne, Fae Ellington and Brian Heap, who have served as judges and mentors for the various schools.”

Sewell further explained that the winner of this the inaugural championship, will be flown to London next March to participate in the activities in commemoration of of the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare.