The Critical Creative Response

Creative critical response

Here is the title you will be working with again:

Choose a scene from "Hamlet" that you could adapt for television or film. Rewrite the script including stage-directions then write a commentary on how and why you adapted the scene in the way you did. You should include reference to critical views/sources about the play and how they shaped your decisions.

Approximate word count: 600

In small groups or pairs, compare what scenes you have chosen to adapt for television or film. Also compare your ideas about:

where/when it should be set (e.g. East End of London)
Who you would want for the lead roles and why
lines you would cut and why
stage directions you think necessary

You may decide to work together on one scene and then write your own commentary on how you would adapt it.

Make further notes together about your scene and begin the process of re-writing the scene together.

"Doctor Faustus" Act 2 Scene 1: The Contract scene

We will be reading this scene together. After we have, make notes together about:

How Faustus makes the contract
How Marlowe shows us his uncertainty about it
The role of Mephistophilis and the angels in the scene

Mel Gibson's "Hamlet"

We will watch more of this production which may inspire further ideas for your own production of "Hamlet"!

Homework

1. Complete the re-writing of your chosen scene, making notes about what you have done and why.

2. Include a list of your cast, settings and stage directions.

Don't forget to read the read this essay on "Adapting Shakespeare" on the Masterpiece Theatre website.