Hamlet: Eight actors with Down's syndrome ‘play The Dane'

Telegraph

25-04-2025

Luckily for them, some of the greatest modern actors of stage and screen – Derek Jacobi, Mark Rylance, Simon Russell Beale, Kenneth Branagh, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, Paapa Essiedu and Ben Whishaw – have never encountered what Uncle Monty in Withnail and I famously lamented was the most shattering experience in a young man's life: the crushing realisation that he will never 'play The Dane'.
Yet that sense of acute thespian disillusionment which he so memorably articulated ('When that moment comes, one's ambition ceases') may not be foremost in the minds of Peruvian theatre company La Plaza's actors, all of whom have Down's syndrome and so face far greater challenges.
Their highly lauded 're-invention' of Shakespeare's universally acclaimed tragedy arrives in London following a sell-out run at the Edinburgh International Festival last year. Under the aegis of director, writer and community stalwart Chela De Ferrari, this Hamlet involves eight actors performing key scenes from Shakespeare's magnum opus, while also sharing their thoughts, feelings, and frustrations, and all dextrously interwoven with apposite text from the original.
In so doing, La Plaza skilfully combines the timeless rumination on life, death and existential angst with a passionate, profoundly moving and unexpectedly humorous meditation on otherness, liminality and what it means to be a perennial outsider, given how society often ignores, pities or mocks those with 47 chromosomes (as opposed to the standard 46) and habitually excludes, infantilises and patronises them.
From the opening footage of a baby being born to mimicking Laurence Olivier perform his legendary film role and a video call with Shakespearean colossus Ian McKellen to get tips on how to play Hamlet, this production contains many transcendent truths. Whether asking what dreams they are allowed to have, asserting the desire 'to speak and be heard' or accepting the fact that they 'will never escape the gaze of others', this is a searing critique of societal attitudes to neurodivergence. Performed in Spanish with English surtitles, it is in turns humbling, audacious and – a much over-used but in this instance wholly merited epithet – gloriously life-affirming.
A palpable sense of playfulness imbues the cast's performances. Uncompromising and unapologetic, Octavio Bernaza, Jaime Cruz, Lucas Demarchi, Manuel García, Diana Gutierrez, Cristina León Barandiarán, Ximena Rodríguez and Álvaro Toledo all shine brightly, passing the princely crown to each other with dignity and aplomb. The bare stage and minimal props only enhance the power and range of their acting. (The famous 'To be or not to be' soliloquy rapped with rage and rare insight.)
So, banish any preconceptions. Infectiously exuberant, enriching and clever, this production serves as a reminder that Shakespeare is accessible to all, and Hamlet is for everyone. Uncle Monty would doubtless have wept with delight.