Yan Duyvendak & Roger Bernat

In courts of law, the voice of the people often seems to fail. Maybe this is one of the reasons why in “Please, Continue (Hamlet)” by Swiss performer Yan Duyvendak and Catalan director Roger Bernat, the court moves out into the theatre. All protagonists are professionals who have left their usual domains in order to participate in a show in which the audience gets a vote. A real case is being tried that has classic traits: Hamlet today. There is a judge, a prosecutor, an attorney – all of them real legal practitioners. The defendants and witnesses, Hamlet, his mother Gertrude and Ophelia are represented by actors. And of course there is the audience whose power of judgment is of vital importance and will contribute to the outcome of every individual performance. In the theatre space it becomes clear that the outcome of a trial may very well depend on the rhetorical abilities of the parties involved. And it also becomes apparent that the law, which here is turned into art and literature, is pliant indeed: Hamlet – like you have never seen it before.