{"id":115210,"date":"2025-06-16T13:59:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T17:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=115210"},"modified":"2025-06-16T14:00:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T18:00:01","slug":"scrutiny-luminato-2025-perus-teatro-la-plaza-creates-powerful-playful-hamlet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/06\/16\/scrutiny-luminato-2025-perus-teatro-la-plaza-creates-powerful-playful-hamlet\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Luminato 2025: Peru\u2019s Teatro La Plaza Creates A Powerful, Playful Hamlet"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jaime
Jaime Cruz in Teatro La Plaza’s Hamlet, part of Luminato 2025 (Photo courtesy of Luminato)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Luminato\/Teatro La Plaza: Hamlet. Written and directed by Chela De Ferrari, with actors Octavio Bernaza, Jaime Cruz, Lucas Demarchi, Manuel Garc\u00eda, Diana Gutierrez, Cristina Le\u00f3n Barandiar\u00e1n, Ximena Rodr\u00edguez, and \u00c1lvaro Toledo. In Spanish with English surtitles. June 13, 2025 at Harbourfront Theatre, Toronto.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It may be the only production of Hamlet in the world that ends with an audience participation dance party.<\/p>\n

There have been many, many stagings of the work of Shakespeare that take it into unfamiliar and unanticipated territory, it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

But, surely, it is the only Hamlet to end with both a defiant rap song and<\/em> an audience participation dance party.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the work of Peru\u2019s Teatro La Plaza and their powerful riff on Shakespeare\u2019s classic tale of fatal indecision.<\/p>\n

\"L-R:
L-R: as Ophelia with Octavio Bernaza in Teatro La Plaza’s Hamlet, part of Luminato 2025 (Photo courtesy of Luminato); the dance party finale on June 13 (Photo: Anya Wassenberg); Luca Demarchi contemplates the skull in Teatro La Plaza’s Hamlet, part of Luminato 2025 (Photo courtesy of Luminato)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Teatro La Plaza: Hamlet<\/h2>\n

Where the Elizabethan bard focused on the tragedy of his flawed hero\u2019s inability to decide and act, Teatro La Plaza and its cast of eight actors with Down\u2019s Syndrome chose to spotlight a line from one of his iconic monologues.<\/p>\n

To be or not to be?<\/p>\n

What is it to be in a world that would prefer you just don\u2019t exist, and hide if you must?<\/p>\n

The back wall of the stage is a screen, and the performance begins there with the unapologetic video of the birth of a child with Down\u2019s Syndrome. It opens the play by framing the piece with their experiences, and a bit of a shock factor, depending on your sensibilities.<\/p>\n

The doctors measure the newborn\u2019s skull, a proportion which is often used to diagnose Down\u2019s. It pulls the audience directly into the core of the play: what is it like to be the other in our world?<\/p>\n

The Play<\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t even think you are going to see that<\/em> Hamlet….<\/p>\n

The play proceeded more or less in the same sequence of scenes as Shakespeare\u2019s original script. Some scenes are played as a theatrical scene, but with dimensions that were unique to their characters and situation.<\/p>\n

Each of the eight actors takes on a variety of roles during the performance, including a turn with the crown as Hamlet. Through it, each was allowed to showcase their strengths. Luca Demarchi<\/strong> performed a mesmerizing ribbon dance both on stage and in a video segment.<\/p>\n

Cristina Le\u00f3n Barandiar\u00e1n<\/strong> often acted as the narrator, and introduced scenes, and in the opening, the cast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I blank, just wait for a bit,\u201d says Octavio Bernaza<\/strong> during the introductions. While that may have been true, his bravado and stage presence kept up the momentum. He was a fine, swaggering Claudius the betrayer.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the flow of the play cut instead to the workshops they\u2019d held, and rehearsals. In one scene, Jaime Cruz<\/strong>, who most often wore Hamlet\u2019s crown, conjured the spirits of previous Hamlets from Sir Lawrence Olivier to Ian McKellen and more to help him interpret the script.<\/p>\n