Sadeke Brooks, Gleaner Writer

The Jamaica Youth Theatre in last year's production of 'Man Better Man', directed by Carolyn Allen, which won the Actor Boy a].ward for Best Drama.- Contributed

A committed group of young actors and actresses from the Jamaica Youth Theatre (JYT) will stage Ted Dwyer's Mansong, next weekend, at Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts, University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.

The group's artistic director, Aston Cooke, said Mansong was chosen because part of the JYT's mandate is to perform classic West Indian plays. In addition to it being a good play, Cooke says it was chosen because the group has not performed any Jamaican plays for a while.

The Jamaica Youth Theatre in Maskarade in 2006.- Contributed

Members of the Jamaica Youth Theatre at the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Schools Drama Festival in St Lucia, January, last year. - Contributed

It is directed by Cooke. Larry Watson will design the set, while Quindell Ferguson is responsible for costumes.

In Mansong, Dada, an old slave, tells the story of Jack 'Three Finger Jack' Mansong to the other slaves following a wedding celebration of Miss Rosa Chapman, the daughter of the estate owner, to a young British soldier, Captain Edward Whitehorn.

Mansong was perhaps the most feared runaway slave in Jamaica during the 1700s. He remains one of the best-known Jamaican folk heroes.

He was injured in a fight with a Maroon named Quashie and thus lost two fingers. Despite his leadership of an unsuccessful rebellion at his home plantation, Jack Mansong escaped to the mountains. Historians say that the very mention of Mansong's name drove fear into the hearts of white plantation owners in Jamaica and those in Britain.

historical background

With such a historical background, Cooke says the members, who are mainly students, have to do a lot of research for the play.

"The students got the chance to learn and do a lot of research on the time period and costumes," says Cooke.

In addition, they have been doing workshops since January with experienced theatre persons, including Quindell Ferguson for costumes, Nadean Rawlins for preparation, Dahlia Harris for production, and Peter Heslop for characterisation. Christopher 'Johnny' Daley and Oliver Samuels have done workshop with JYT.

Cooke says working with the group has been great, because the members want to learn and they are committed.

"The experience is great. I am humbled by the fact that students come from so far for rehearsing, from William Knibb, Glenmuir and St James high schools," says Cooke. "They are so interested in the work that they are doing and they have a love and passion for theatre."

Despite the distance, the students have to travel they manage to rehearse twice weekly during the summer and attend monthly workshops before summer.

award winners

Cooke says all award-winners from the annual Schools Drama Festival get the opportunity to become part of the JYT, which started officially in 2004. Before then the awardees from the competition have been performing together since 1996, but not as a formal group. Thus, to keep the budding thespians together, the JYT was formed.

These students help to make JYT different from other theatre groups.

"It's not commercial theatre; it's young people and JYT has a teaching element to it. They spend more time learning than performing," Cooke tells The Sunday Gleaner.

Their passion for acting has earned the group several awards. Last year JYT members received the Prime Minister Youth Award for Arts and Culture. JYT also received an Actor Boy Award for Best Drama for an adaptation of Dr Errol Hill's Man Better Man. In addition, for the presentation of Sylvia Wynter's classic Jamaica play Maskarade, the JYT received awards for Outstanding Costumes and Make-up, Outstanding Lighting and Sound Effects and Outstanding Set Design. Director Fabian Thomas also won the award for Outstanding Directing.

limited resources

The group has been successful, even with limited resources. Cooke says there is an unavailability of theatre space for rehearsals and performances, as JYT does not own a theatre space. In addition, it has limited funds. However, it receives some financial support from the Schools Drama Festival and the CHASE Fund, which paid the travel expenses for the group to attend the Caribbean Schools Drama Festival in 2006 and 2007.

"We appreciated that so much," says Cooke. "We just want to continue providing a space for the young people to express themselves."

After the three performances of Mansong from September 12 to 13 in November the JYT's members will perform at the Schools Drama Festival and then Caribbean Schools Drama Festival, in Guyana.