TO be or not to be in a Sheakespeare play was the question posed to West Hatch High School drama students who answered resoundingly in the affirmative.

Pupils at the school, in Chigwell High Road, were given the task of putting on The Merchant of Venice at Ilford's Kenneth More Theatre as part of the Shakespeare School’s Festival.

Given six weeks to stage the play, they decided on a modern production set in a casino with musical interludes, mobile phones and credit cards all featuring although Shakespeare's language was kept intact.

Play director Deborah Kenley said: “I was shocked at how easily the students took to the language, it seemed like second nature and made my job much easier.”

Matthew Ground, 14, who played Antonio said: “It was so great to get to know other kids who I’d never usually hang around with. It was so much fun, I already miss rehearsing and I can’t wait to do it again.”