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In the genre-busting documentary Grand Theft Hamlet, two out-of-work UK actors in lockdown attempt the seemingly impossible. They seek to mount a full production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet inside the ultra violent world of Grand Theft Auto - the popular multiplayer online video game - with often hysterical, bloody and thoughtful results.
The documentary itself, remarkably, is shot entirely within the game; seeing tensions rise between the lives of the creators in their online world and the real world. There are still children and relationships, not to mention deaths, isolation and toilet breaks to be mindful of after you adopt an avatar.
The streaming of multiplayer games and their enormously rich and complex worlds have become hugely popular globally on platforms like YouTube and Twitch. As Grand Theft Hamlet illustrates, they have become important places of community for many people and have become far more than just a place to play. Yet, this is the first time a Shakespearean production has been staged in such a world.
Still from Grand Theft Hamlet Photo: supplied
Shooting Hamlet in a world where the intention of most people is to kill each other, steal cars, helicopters and planes and avoid the police, it provides the production with plenty of technical complications; let alone finding the time to gather a cast and rehearse. The theatre company needed security and had to persuade a bunch of very wacky strangers to both audition for the roles and stay still for long enough to be an audience.
The decision is made to invite a select audience within the game and follow the staging of the play in a procession of outlandish settings. From a luxury yacht called the Elsinore to on top of a giant blimp. Meanwhile on the livestream the stakes for the creators are also very real - they hope the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre will be watching their work alongside the film festivals.
Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane Photo: Becky Stinehour
A remarkable feat, with plenty to muse on about our attachment to online worlds, Grand Theft Hamlet is the writing and directing work of real-life couple actor Sam Crane and filmmaker Pinny Grylls. Grylls had never played a video game before the project, but became drawn into this virtual world.
It’s January 2021. The UK has just entered its third lockdown and all the UK’s theatres remain closed. For actors Sam Crane and friend Mark Oosterveen, the future professionally looks bleak. Crane has just started rehearsing to play Harry Potter on the London West End.
They immerse themselves in ‘GTA’, taking refuge in the remarkable beauty as well as dodgy game-playing on offer in this beautifully rendered game. Escaping the cops one day, Sam and Mark stumble across a large outdoor theatre, giving them the idea to stage Hamlet - a play known for its meditation on life and horrific body count.
Still from Grand Theft Hamlet featuring Sam Crane's (dead) avatar. Photo: supplied
As Crane tells Culture 101 they also realised this interactive, multi-player game had the buzz of live theatre other digital performance modes, like Zoom, lacked.
Pinny follows them as documentary director and editor, as production plans get more ambitious. She exploits the in-game camera features of the game to focus on its stiller moments as well, developing a true unique game/film hybrid.
In the documentary, while Mark deals with his own isolation living alone, Pinny and Sam are in the same home. She challenges Sam about his obsession with the production. The fact that if she wants to spend time with him, she’s finding she needs to enter the game.
Grand Theft Hamlet premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival earlier this year, winning the best documentary jury prize. Previously, the online GTA production won them an Innovation Award at the 2023 Stage Awards in London.