Born in August Town and raised in Kintyre, actor and dean of discipline for the Clan Carthy High School, Kenroy Rowe, said it was his love for the arts that redirected his life and saved him from the ills of both St Andrew communities. The 'disciplined actor' told THE STAR that it was very easy for him to get involved in criminal activities as he watched his friends and colleagues die in front of his eyes at the hands on gunmen. However, due to his strong involvement in the cadet corps, which kept him grounded, and as a passionate lover of the arts, Rowe found a better way.
"It [the arts] was our way as kids of just escaping the trauma and the whole aspect of violence and crime. [Theatre] arts and the church were my starting ground for not getting involved in what was happening around me [because] the first play I played was in a church called The Prodigal Son and that's where my first love for acting started," said Rowe. He said that while attending Papine High School, he "refined" his talent through the choir, drama club and JCDC competitions.
Later, Rowe attended the Excelsior Community College where he earned an associate degree in performing arts, and took on theatre arts and acting as a "serious business". He pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree at the International University of the Caribbean, with a focus on education and communication studies, before fully engaging into the profession. He landed his first appearance in a commercial production with renowned late playwright Paul Beale's Under Mi Nose 4 , where he learnt not only how to perform, but also how to "assist others in developing their own crafts and being patient with them".
This led to Rowe undertaking the role of a creative arts coordinator at the Caribbean Maritime University where he oversees artistic initiatives and promotes cultural awareness among students and staff. "I enjoy watching the growth and development of students when they arrive in September shy and timid [then later] you see them going off to college/university, and you hear them singing [and] taking on that stage being so bold and creative," he said. Rowe said several of his students have entered competitions such as Digicel Rising Stars .
"[But] sometimes some students only come into the arts because of the hype. That 30 seconds that they see on television or on stage, they come into it for that. But they don't realise the magnitude of work that it takes to put that 30 seconds on stage.
When they realise, it's very hard for you to get them to commit and be serious about it, because to them, the art is not a serious business," he shared. Because the arts changed him, Rowe said that if he can give back that same experience to a student or child, he feels fulfilled, and the feeling is "even greater than the salary". While juggling other roles as an emcee and justice of the peace, he still acts, with some of his major productions including Recession and Single Parents with Dynamite Production.
As a dean, Rowe said it is not hard t0 balance such a contrastingly "serious role" with what he does on stage. "I've been at Clan Carthy for over 16 years, so I have taught generations. Parents I taught, I'm now teaching their child.
Now, I'm the dean of discipline for their child and because I have set a certain standard and precedent before, they understand that Mr Rowe don't play when it comes on to discipline. But as a dean, I always try to be as professional as possible," he said. Rowe said he hopes to become a principal but also wished for Jamaica to embody the arts more as a business.
"So I'd like to start a professional company that deals with the holistic aspect of the arts in terms of marketing, booking and publishing," he said..
