PERUVIAN THEATRE

(Dialogue in Spanish, with English subtitles)

“Rather than preserving Shakespeare as sacred literature, Teatro La Plaza treats the play as something alive and malleable, allowing the actors to appropriate its language for themselves. The result is less a straightforward adaptation than a collective act of reclamation.” Bakchormeeboy Theatre Review

In this brilliant, funny, and moving adaptation, Peruvian director Chela De Ferrari intertwines the text of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with the lived experiences of a young ensemble of eight actors with Down syndrome. With wry humour, playful energy, pop music, and pointed critique, the performers confront the play’s timeless themes—grief, revenge, and existence—with striking honesty and insight. Drawing resonant parallels between Shakespeare’s Denmark and our contemporary world, they offer a vision of a more just and joyful imagined future.

Teatro La Plaza is a theatre creation space that investigates and interprets reality to build a critical point of view that dialogues with its community. It opened its doors in 2003 to connect with its community by offering a production of works capable of questioning, provoking, and surprising. Through texts of new playwrighting, as well as classics under a contemporary look, their proposals seek to formulate key questions that allow us to better understand our reality, the hectic times we live in, and the complex nature of human beings. With the intention of collaborating in the development of local playwrights, in 2013, La Plaza created Sala de Parto, a program that stimulates the birth of new Peruvian plays and authors.

Written and directed by Chela De Ferrari. Associate direction and dramaturgy by Luis Alberto León, Jonathan Oliveros, and Claudia Tangoa; music direction and vocal coaching by Alessandra Rodriguez; visuals by Lucho Soldevilla; choreography by Mirella Carbone; lighting design by Jesus Reyes. Cast: Octavio Bernaza, Lucas Demarchi, Jaime Cruz, Manuel García, Diana Gutiérrez, Cristina León Barandiarán, Álvaro Toledo, and Ximena Rodríguez.

Now an international sensation, Hamlet is one of the most important pieces of touring theatre in the world! The show has been performed in 20 countries and 51 cities, (with subtitles in 11 languages), including:

• Edinburgh International Festival
• Taiwan National Theater
• Singapore International Festival of the Arts
• Lincoln Center
• Luminato
• Dublin Theatre Festival
• Chicago Shakespeare Festival
• Théâtre de la Ville Paris
• And soon... Nanaimo!