Chela De Ferrari

Born in Lima, Peru. Director and playwright. She is the founder of Teatro La Plaza, a non-profit institution founded in 2003, and artistic director since its foundation until 2021. La Plaza defines itself as a space for theatrical creation that investigates and interprets reality in order to build a critical point of view in dialogue with its community. Through new plays and classics reconsidered through a contemporary lens, its programming is committed to the construction of a theater capable of critiquing, reflecting, and remembering, and in which no one feels excluded. In 2013 she created Sala de Parto, Teatro La Plaza’s program to stimulate the birth of new Peruvian playwriting. In 13 years, working with local and international partners (such as the Royal Court in London), it has helped give birth to more than 70 plays. Recently, they have emphasized women creators, supporting them in their process of creating new plays. In recent years, De Ferrari’s work as a director and playwright has focused on the adaptation and direction of Shakespeare plays (Richard III in 2013, Much Ado About Nothing in 2016, and Hamlet in 2019) and new Peruvian playwriting. In close creative collaboration with Peruvian playwright Luis Alberto León, she has premiered: La cautiva in 2014, Savia in 2017, and La Barragana in 2023, a trilogy about 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. It premiered at the Avignon Festival and the National Drama Center of Spain. She is currently working on a 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. The documentary will premiere this year.