The Hamlet Syndrome: screening and Q&A

Ukrainian Institute London, in partnership with BerthaDocHouse and Docudays UA presents People Power, a three-day celebration of Ukrainian non-fiction cinema.

A few months prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, five young women and men participate in a unique stage production that attempts to relate their war experiences to Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

For each of them, the stage is a platform to express their grief and trauma through the famous question ‘to be or not to be’, a dilemma that applies to their own lives. The protagonists fight against disappointment, powerlessness, and anger, trying to put their lives back in order while processing their painful past. The rehearsals for the play are combined with an intense glimpse into the characters’ lives: a powerful portrait of a generation coping with the trauma of war which now, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is both their present and future.