Please Continue is structured like a criminal-court trial and takes place in a (real) courtroom. On the stage are authentic judges, lawyers, prosecutors, clerks, bailiffs, etc., recruited from the Bar in each town where the performance takes place. We engage these dignitaries of the court in the tradition of the “mock trial,” as practiced by various legal organizations: Case studies undertaken as a sort of debate competition or exercise in verbal jousting. Only the role of the defendant is played by an actor. The defendant is a young man who has killed his uncle, after the latter has killed the defendant’s father. A near-universal case, familiar from grade-school; a drama that shares much with the grand canvasses of ancient tragedy. The young man is Hamlet, yes – but not exactly. In preparing the case, Roger Bernat and Yan Duyvendak will propose the most open reading of the myth possible – putting the outcome of the trial into the hands of a jury which will be in possession of all the facts. What will happen then?
Roger Bernat