Shakespeare Re Imagined- Making Decisions

What I Like About Each Play-

King Lear
Relationships within the play
Fight For Power
Honestly and Lies
Humiliation

Midsummer Night's Dream 
Magic
Deception
Mixed Up Love Triangles 
A Higher Power Controlling Things

Macbeth
Power/Ambition
History (Gun Powder Plot/King James)
Interesting Characters
Setting 
Supernatural 

The Tempest 
Magic
Betrayal and Forgiveness  
Spirits

Rank Order 
#1 Macbeth  
#2 Midsummer Night's Dream
#3 King Lear
#4 The Tempest

I think that Macbeth is probably my favorite choice have i have a wide range of ideas that i can develop from the original play. i also think that the characters are so interesting and unique with some strong female characters such as the witches and Lady Macbeth as there is a lot of strong female actors in our group. i think that i am mostly attracted to the history side of Macbeth and how it was influenced by the Gun Powder Plot and King James fascination with Witches. 

The particular aspect that i would like to explore is the history behind Macbeth and how it was written to celebrate King James who had just ascended the throne. i think that i could change this and make it more modern but still have the idea of power, monarchy and over throwing. 

I found interesting research into the Gunpowder Plot and Shakespeare, here are some links to them-

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/gunpowderplot.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/english/macbeth/background/revision/1/

http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/macbeth/historical/gunplot.html