*****Hamlet

A prismatic approach, offering fresh insight

Jaime Cruz as Hamlet. Photo by Julieta Cervantes

I can promise that, unless you caught a previous tour, you have never seen a Hamlet quite like this one. Make that Hamlets, plural.

Nearly a decade ago, at the Teatro La Plaza in Lima, director Chela de Farrari began mentoring eight young performers with Down syndrome, at the urging of an ambitious young usher, Jaime Cruz. Together, the group brilliantly deconstructed the foundational script, chopping it into more or less sequential scenes informed by their own life experiences. The company has since toured the world, reaping acclaim at every turn.

The production starts off with a video’d birth (brace yourself for Pit-style vérité). As “Gertrudis” (the play is performed in Spanish, with surtitles), Diana Gutiérrez greets her adult newborn (Lucas Demarchi). We then get a few ominous words from the paternal ghost (great projections throughout by Lucho Soldevilla), and we’re off and running – after a slight pause during which the performers introduce themselves and prepare the audience for any glitches.

Octavio Bernaza, for instance, notes that “Sometimes, I will take a bit to say my lines. When this happens, just relax. Be patient.” Several others echo that advisory. Cristina León Barandiarán (who could give Sandra Bernhard lessons in brio) warns: “When I get excited, I have a tic. But don’t worry, I’m OK.” She then shoulders a massive task as narrator/interviewer and, passim, performer.

Ximena Rodríguez is a delicate heartbreaker as a somewhat modernized Ofelia, and Demarchi, as Death, weaves a pre-duel spell with a skull and ribbon dance. In what is perhaps the most memorable scene, Cruz – having FaceTimed an AI-simulated Ian McKellen – takes on the challenge of playing Hamlet. Projected on the backdrop is an overpowering image of Olivier assuming a languid pose: the princeling assailed by acedia. Cruz tries to mimic the mode, only to be called out by a fed-up director (Ǻlvaro Toledo), who aces a version burning with fervor.

Audience participation is an option at one point, as is a post-show celebratory dance. You’ll want to leap to your feet for both.

Details: Hamlet, to April 4