The famous Hamlet phrase, “To be, or not to be…” takes on a completely different meaning in war time. Contemporaries who experienced Maidan and the 2014 invasion are invited by Ukrainian theatre director Roza Sarkisian to share their experiences, therapeutically using the language of Shakespeare. What are young people in Ukraine fighting for, what kind of changes are they longing for? On the screen there is an overlap of life, theatre and documentary film, and viewers find themselves in an emotionally-charged space – seeking a return to humanity.

“Children of the revolution, naive rebels, dreamers brutally awakened from sleep,” is how theatre director Roza Sarkisian describes her generation. UN data attests that this year more than 10 million Ukrainians – almost a quarter of the nation’s inhabitants, have become refugees. It’s not currently possible to gather precise information on civilians and army personnel who have been killed due to active military action. At least 7 million Ukrainians died during WWII.