Wednesday, October 7, 2026, 7:30 PM
Thursday, October 8, 2026, 7:30 PM

Street and Davis Performance Hall, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre

This performance will last approximately 95 minutes with no intermission.*

Performed in Spanish with English supertitles

This performance includes a simulated gunshot, loud sound effects, haze effects, and flashing lights. This event is meant to welcome audiences of all backgrounds and varied access needs.

$30 general admission
$10 students with ID and youth 18 and under

15%-25% subscription discounts available

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CREDITS

Playwright and Direction: Chela De Ferrari
Associate Direction and Playwrighting Advisory: Claudia Tangoa, Jonathan Oliveros, and Luis Alberto León
Cast: Octavio Bernaza, Jaime Cruz, Lucas Demarchi, Manuel García, Diana Gutierrez, Cristina León Barandiarán, Ximena Rodríguez, and Álvaro Toledo
Vocal Training: Alessandra Rodríguez
Choreography: Mirella Carbone
Visuals: Lucho Soldevilla
Lighting Design: Jesús Reyes
Producer: Siu Jing Apau

"…oozes charm, humour, and imagination."

— The Guardian

In this funny, brash, and unexpectedly tender reimagining of Hamlet, eight actors with Down syndrome take the stage to share their desires, struggles, and questions.

Blending Shakespeare’s text with the performers’ own stories, the play begins with “To be or not to be?” but quickly upends expectations with candor, comedy, and theatrical flair.

What does it mean to be in a world that often overlooks you? In a society obsessed with productivity, beauty, and perfection, Peru's Teatro La Plaza challenges us to rethink who gets to belong and what it truly means to live a meaningful life.

About Teatro La Plaza

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 with the purpose of connecting with its community by offering a production of works capable of questioning, provoking, and surprising. 

Through new works, as well as classics presented through a contemporary lens, the company's 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 Teatro La Plaza created Sala de Parto, a program that nurtures new Peruvian plays and authors.

Director and Playwright Chela De Ferrari

Born in Lima, Peru, director and playwright Chela De Ferrari is the founder of Teatro La Plaza. In recent years, De Ferrari's work has focused on the adaptation and direction of Shakespeare plays (Richard III, 2013; Much Ado About Nothing, 2016; and Hamlet, 2019) and new Peruvian playwriting. In close creative collaboration with Peruvian playwright Luis Alberto León, she premiered La Cautiva (2014), Savia (2017), and La Barragana (2023), a trilogy examining three moments of extreme violence in the history of Peru. 

In 2024 she presented a version of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull with visually impaired actors that premiered at the Avignon Festival and the National Drama Center of Spain. She is currently working on the documentary film Ser Hamlet, which tells the story of the creative process of eight actors and actresses with Down syndrome and cognitive disabilities rehearsing Hamlet.

This is Teatro La Plaza's first performance at the center.

Photos by Eduardo Perez Sanchez and Teatro La Plaza

* Run times listed here are based on information provided at this time and are subject to change.