Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.

So I've been working on my annotated bibliography.... working on it has helped me to really question if I've been going in the right direction. I'm been feeling pretty lost. Things haven't been working out like I'd hoped and the direction of my paper is unsure. I fear committing to something that will yield no reward. 

Yes, I still want target an adolescent audience. Yes, I think it would be interesting to track all of the shakespeare adaptations in television. Is this practical? No. Does it really have much weight? Eh... Am I excited about it? less and less.

The thing is... I think that doing Shakespeare adaptation via television was pretty trendy in the 90's.. but  I'm not seeing too much of it now. It makes me wonder if this topic is really relevant to the current time period.

But you know what IS timeless? Theatre. 

I keep going back the The Henry V production we saw as a class. It was entertaining enough--but I'm not sure it really achieved the goal it was aiming for. I don't think it worked. I don't think that it really got the message across accurately enough to the targeted audiences. How were they supposed to keep track of all of the characters? Wouldn't it have been more beneficial to actually have a full cast than to have the same people changing clothes over and over and making it more confusing. 

Basically what this thought process comes down to is "How does a child targeted Shakespeare performance help in teaching kids?" Does it help? Why go to the efforts of simplifying it so much if it doesn't even work.

I'm just not really sure how to formulate this into a thesis. Do I want to argue that it works or that it doesn't? Who do I talk to? 

Educators? Children's Theatre companies that specialize in Shakespeare? Kids themselves after they watch a performance? (I'm not sure where I'd be able to talk to kids about it..) 

I'm sorry guys. It might seem to you that my mind is puling me in many different directions...and you're right! I haven't even started writing yet. Does it get easier? 

Possible Questions to Ask:

• What are you trying to accomplish with your performance?
• Do you think you accomplish it?
• Do you talk to your audience afterwards?
• What is the most important thing that a child take away from the performance? -- Theme? Language? Morals? 
• What tools are used in the show to help these things become evident to the audience watching?
• Which passages from the play are most poignant/thematic to children? Which can be left out?