Making Choices

You know that artist (and by "artist" I mean writer/actor/painter/director/any other art form) phrase "kill your babies"? If you don't, it basically means that though a person loves an idea or a creation or what have you, sometimes you just have to leave it behind, nix it from the program, or realise that it's just not realistic.

I've killed a few of my babies (God, that sounds so morbid) in years past, and I find myself in a similar situation right now. I don't really have to kill my baby, but I do have to choose one over the other and I have to do it, like, yesterday.

My final is coming up in Children's Theatre, and instead of choosing a normal project like profiling a children's playhouse or chronicling the history of a popular show, I've decided to be crazy and either continue with one adaptation or write a completely new one... all for my final presentation in a month. A month seems like a long time, but I need to choose my project by this weekend because we have conferences about the project in two weeks and I need to have something to show.

So, my two choices:

1) Create an new adaptation premise for a fairy tale and present the story, visuals, and script excerpt.

or

2) Continue with my Peter Pan adaptation and, since I've already done the above for this project, write enough of the script to fill a ten to fifteen minute time slot, in which I will do a sort of staged reading.

There are pros and cons to each of these choices, and I'm having a really hard time figuring out which I should do. So, because you totally care (and I need to hash it out for myself), here are the pros and cons to each:


NEW FAIRY TALE (Sleeping Beauty):

PROS

-Because it's a well-known fairy tale, I have a strong foundation plot.
-Have a nice skeleton of a new version of the plot already, as it's based on an improv I did when I was being a camp counselor last summer.
-I'm finding it quite easy to set it in modern times.
-I could probably pull off a pretty good presentation.
-It's looking like it'll be a comedy, and I enjoy writing comedy.
-I like the plot enough that I may continue with it afterwards.

CONS

-I want to do a script excerpt and I have no idea which scene is stand-alone enough to present.
-Obviously, nothing but the plot is written yet, as I just started tonight.
-I'm not sure if it'll turn out to be for young kids, which might be a problem if I find this out two weeks before the project is due.


PETER PAN ADAPTATION:

PROS

-I really like my premise and I'm going to write this play, whether I do it it for class or not.
-I have the skeleton of a plot.
-The class has already seen my presentation of the basic plot, so I can just expand.
-I get to write more of the script.
-I had a nice talk with my teacher and basically asked her if she thought the plot was even worth developing. She said yes and gave me a lot of great suggestions.
-With her guidance, I have ideas of how to make it more of a children's piece than the more high-school-kids-and-up way it was going before.
-Though it's not modern day, I know the era I'm setting it in (Victorian) very well, and definitely well enough to set a play there.
-It's a drama and I like writing drama.
-I lurve staged readings and would looooove to stage one myself.

CONS

-I don't want to bore the class with the same play they already know.
-I'm worried I won't be able to come up with good enough new material to show them.
-It's really, really, REALLY dramatic.
-I care so much about this project that failure might be devastating.


Augh, I don't know! Anyone out there have any opinions?!