If you were faced with death, what would you do? Resign to fate? Resist? Or wish it on someone else?
Directed by London-based artist Peta Lily and produced by the Fringe Mime and Movement Laboratory, Hamlet Or Die is a dark and disturbing piece of theatre built on the sufferings of others.
On stage is a group of 'inmates' who are being held captive. They have no names and are referred to only as numbers and they certainly are not treated like humans. They have to do exactly as they are told and if they don't, they are punished by electric shocks.
The person who administers the torture is also an inmate, aptly numbered as '666' (played by Colonel Kwong Wai-chuen). This man is evil. He is feared by all and his orders must be obeyed.
Most disturbingly, he sits with us, the audience.
Having demonstrated who the boss is (by punishing whoever he wishes, even just for fun), 666 orders the inmates to entertain the audience with Shakespeare's Hamlet.
