A theater company from Peru, Teatro La Plaza, is in Blacksburg this week for a performance of Hamlet. Eight actors with Down syndrome will perform, and they helped create this retelling of the Shakespeare play, which they’ve toured in 20 counties.
“To be or not to be.” Many people will recognize this line from Hamlet. In this version of Shakespeare’s play, the actors reflect on how this question relates to their own experiences, explained Margaret Lawrence, director of programming for the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech.
“This is a play from the perspective of these eight young adults with Down syndrome, living in a world that sometimes refuses to see them,” Lawrence said.
She saw this show two years ago in New York City. “What I love about this performance is that it is defiant, but it’s also filled with joy and humanity,” Lawrence described.
The actors spent a year rehearsing and workshopping how they wanted to reimagine the story of Hamlet. They blended their own experiences with the words and scenes from Shakespeare.
During a panel discussion at Virginia Tech on October 5, one of the performers shared what acting has helped him realize.
“I feel very proud to be who I am,” he said through an English translator.
He and the others will perform Hamlet Wednesday Oct. 7 and Thursday Oct. 8, at 7:30 p.m. at the Virginia Tech Center for the Arts in Blacksburg. They will perform in Spanish, with an English translation projected onto a screen above the stage.
