Cedar City » Shakespeare rules.

The future of the Elizabethan bard's standing among a new generation seemed assured at Southern Utah University on Friday where 2,000 students from several states gathered for a two-day competition celebrating the playwright and poet.

Jeff Hewitt, 16, from Ben Lomond High School in Ogden, said the competition was some of the most enjoyable acting he has ever done.

He and other students from Ben Lomond and Ogden High School performed a scene from "Julius Caesar" on the Adams' Stage, which normally holds performances of the Utah Shakespearean Festival.

"The language is beautiful," said Hewitt. "[Shakespeare's] characters grip people and hold them tight to the end."

The competition, in its 11th year, is staged by the festival to give the young students an appreciation for Shakespeare.

Michael Bahr, education director for the festival who organizes the event, said students compete in six divisions according to school size, and perform in categories that range from ensemble casts to trio, duo and monologue competitions. There are also competitions in technical aspects of production, such as lighting and scenery. There are also dance contests, and new this year is a musical component featuring the singing of classical madrigal and minstrel numbers composed before 1650.

Bahr said this year's competition is the largest ever with high

school, junior high and middle-school students coming from 96 schools including some from California, Nevada, Colorado and Idaho.

The students are judged by actors and other theater professionals from around the country.

Bahr describes Shakespeare as the "universal man" who wrote plays for all classes of the public, and whose messages are as timeless today as the day they were first performed.

"Every generation wants to be challenged by his works," said Bahr. " He [Shakespeare] endures because he wrote about all aspects of life including war, politicians, sex, school, sports . . . He wrote about our core elements, what is eternal about us."

Christian Shiverdecker, a drama teacher who brought 37 drama students and dancers from Ben Lomond and Ogden high schools to Cedar City, said the students work hard and gain a firm grasp of Shakespeare's meaning.

"The kids see that Shakespeare writes about how people are and how they feel," said Shiverdecker, who participated in the competition as a student from Richfield High School in 1998.

He said the students understand that although individuals are separate they all share a common existence.

"The kids see that," he said. "Shakespeare provokes in them what we all need and want and what we all do. He is not about manipulation but communication."

Laura Serbi, 15, a student at Ogden High School said she is attracted to Shakespeare by his lyrical language.

"His words make sense," she said. "They say all you ever wanted to say."

mhavnes@sltrib.com