Adapted and performed by: Teatro La Plaza
Teatro La Plaza from Peru are a spellbinding company of actors with Down syndrome whose interpretation of Hamlet frames it as a play within a play. The players introduce themselves from the beginning and we’re treated to an examination of the characters and themes of Shakespeare’s tragedy by a group of people with uniquely illuminating perspectives.
Rather than casting one person per part, the actors inhabit different characters at different points, fighting against the idea of a perfect Shakespearean performance in the manner of Laurence Olivier, say. In an iconic central scene, one of the actors mimics Olivier’s lean during his soliloquy from the movie version as it’s projected behind. The company roundly trash the pomposity of Olivier’s delivery. There’s a powerful thread of iconoclasm running through the performance, an insistence on individual expression, rather than fidelity to the text or traditional interpretations.
There are snatches of Shakespeare’s original lines spoken in Spanish. They are taken apart, repeated by different actors. The “to be or not to be” soliloquy in particular becomes a focus. Within the context of living with Down syndrome the existential crisis of the lines becomes more than just the product of a depressed young man’s indulgent musings. We’re brought face to face with a struggle on a different scale.
In a similar way, when Hamlet tells Ophelia “get thee to a nunnery”, there’s an added poignancy because he knows their child would be born with Down syndrome. Moments like this show an incredible symbiosis between the universal truths of the original text and the unique perspectives of the company.
Not only is it innovative in its treatment of the text, it’s also technologically ambitious. The use of projection creates a sense of live zooming-in on the actors faces; there are songs, dancing, audience participation. It’s a fun, face-paced, energetic romp through the plot, peppered with interludes of intensely scrutinised character development. In one scene Ophelia is played by three women simultaneously and they each give their own imaginings of what is going through her head as she descends into madness and despair, building to a time-spanning, poetic climax.
For one production to so successfully bring together activism, entertainment and intensive engagement with the text, it’s a real feat of exuberance. It’s a life-affirmingly modern Hamlet without any sense of gimmickry.
Runs until 11 May 2025
