’To be or not to be’, that is a question with a completely new ring to it in Teatro La Plaza’s production performed by eight actors and actresses with Down’s syndrome and cognitive disabilities from Lima, Peru.
For a start, there is the immensely difficult question of a right to life this demographic has historically faced, even sometimes coming from their own parents while they were still in the womb. Now as young adults, they confide to us in the introductory scenes, they frequently face injunctions from their parents about their basic need for sexual intimacy and reproduction – not unlike the young protagonists of Shakespeare’s play (though for different reasons). And then, finally, there is the fact they just don’t like the way Laurence Olivier did the speech! ‘To act is not to imitate’, one of the Hamlets from this ensemble (all of whom take it in turn to wear the crown), declares to another as he breaks into a Latin dance.
Despite its rootedness in such dark questions, this production is remarkably light on its feet and completely life-affirming. While never losing its sense of humour, it also abounds in subtly poetic moments: romantic close ups, dreamlike fantasies, poignant one-liners. Its use of video – especially a skype appearance from Ian McKellen (in Spanish) and a brief visual citation of the 1948 Olivier version – brings to mind the Wooster Group’s own 2007 Hamlet performed against the backdrop of Richard Burton’s rendition from the 1964 ‘theatrofilm’ directed by John Guilgud. All this is too say that La Plaza’s version stands firm within this hall of fame and is as robustly artistically informed as it is socially engaged.
Teatro La Plaza is a theatre company founded in 2003 by director and playwright Chela De Ferrari. Its founding mission was to engage with the community in an open and democratic way – hence the name – and to promote new work that engages with the complexity of humankind. Their production of Hamlet came about in 2019 as part of De Ferrari’s growing interest in Shakespeare’s plays and she is currently making a documentary film about this project.
In the meantime, for theatre audiences worldwide, there are many ‘remembrances’ to take away from this show, to borrow an appropriate term from Shakespeare. One that stayed with me was a triptych of Ophelias discussing their dreams against a video backdrop of a wedding dress floating in water – refracting and reassembling familiar leitmotifs. There is another moment of newfound profundity concerning Horatio and his existential singularity. There is also a hilarious version of the Mousetrap (La Ratonera) involving a friendly dig at the neurotypicals. But the biggest achievement of this production is just how quickly it enfolds the audience into its sense of joy, getting them up on their feet and onto the stage for a celebratory dance at the end. Not to be missed for anything in the world.
This post was written by the author in their personal capacity.The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of The Theatre Times, their staff or collaborators.
This post was written by Duška Radosavljević.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.
