Actors with Down syndrome tear down barriers in London show

London: It s one of Shakespeare s most existential questions to be or not to be? Now a group of globe trotting Peruvian actors with Down syndrome ar...

London: It's one of Shakespeare's most existential questions "to be or not to be?" Now a group of globe-trotting Peruvian actors with Down syndrome are tackling it head-on, breaking down prejudice and barriers.

Cristina Leon, Jaime Cruz and Manuel Garcia are members of the eight-strong group currently performing William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" at the Barbican centre in London this week until Sunday.

"This play shows that we can be included in everything at work, and in education. There are no barriers, we can do lots of things, and people must open their eyes to the fact that we can do anything they ask us," Leon, 32, told AFP.

The project was launched seven years ago born out of Cruz's dreams of becoming an actor.

He was working as an usher in the Teatro La Plaza in Lima and had never thought that his Down syndrome was an obstacle in life.