Instructions
Play Suggestions:
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Romeo and Juliet
• As You Like It
• Taming of the Shrew
• The Tempest
• Much Ado About Nothing
• The Comedy of Errors
• Macbeth
• King Lear
If you have another idea, please ask your instructor to approve it.
Then, select and address one of the following options:
Option 1: Write an analysis of the play that you viewed. Include
at least one quote from the play in your essay. In your essay,
address the following:
• Identify the performance that you have selected.
• Describe the staging, lighting, costumes, and characters of
the performance. How do these match or revise the written
version of the play? You do not need to read the entire play,
but you should skim the text.
• What type of mood and tone does the performance create?
How?
• What parts of the play are easier to understand through
performance? What are some details that stood out through
performance?
• What are your feelings about this performance? What did
you take away from viewing it?
Option 2: Find an adaptation or transformation of a play. Choose
an adaptation with some significant differences from the original,
such as transposed plots and characters into a variety of different
settings and historical contexts. Here are some examples:
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(1999) or A Midsummer Night’s DREAM (2018)
• Romeo and Juliet – Romeo + Juliet (1996) or West Side
Story (1961) or Romeo Must Die (2000)
• As You Like It – As You Like It (2006)
• Taming of the Shrew – 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) or
Kiss Me, Kate (1948)
• Much Ado About Nothing – Much Ado About Nothing (2012)
• The Comedy of Errors – The Bomb-itty of Errors (2012)
• King Lear – A Thousand Acres (1997)
• Othello – O (2001)
• Hamlet – The Lion King (2019 or 1994) or Hamlet (2000)
• Twelfth Night – She’s the Man (2006)
If you have another idea, please ask your instructor to approve it.
Watch the original version and the adapted version. In your essay,
address the following:
• How is the adaptation the same as the original? Discuss
plot, characters, theme, conflict, language, etc.
• How does the adaptation differ from the original? Discuss
setting, time period, characters, plot, language, etc.
• Does the original story translate well in the adaptation? Why
or why not? Did the adaptation work in a different setting,
time period, etc. Why or why not?
• Why do you think Shakespeare’s plays are adapted so
often?
