Photo: screenshot
In the genre-busting document Grand Theft Hamlet, two out-of-work UK actors in lockdown stage Hamlet in the ultra-violent world of Grand Theft Auto.
Grand Theft Hamlet is the writing and directing work of real-life British couple actor Sam Crane and filmmaker Pinny Grylls.
The documentary is shot entirely within the game, seeing tensions rise between the lives of the creators in their online world and the real world.
Can you stage Hamlet in the ultraviolent world of Grand Theft Auto?
It was an appropriate setting, Crane told Culture 101.
"Playing in that space... how beautiful it is, and how brutal it is at the same time. And Hamlet himself really articulates that; that's kind of his viewpoint of the world. When he talks about what a piece of work is a man."
Grylls, who until this project knew little about the world of GTA, agreed.
"The 'rotten state of Denmark' sprung to mind. I mean, when you go into that space, you think, this is quite a dog-eat-dog world, actually. Claudius and his wife could quite easily be hanging out there."
The world of GTA is like Shakespeare on a "billion-dollar budget", and that gave them great freedom to stretch creatively, Crane said.
"We found this theatre space there, the Vinewood Bowl. It's like a version of the Hollywood Bowl... and it was amazing.
"But then we realised we needed to move out from that because there's so much opportunity for so many incredible locations in the game.
"And we wanted to tap into that freedom and fun and beauty of the game. And then it was really fun coming up with ways of how do we get the audience from location A to location B. OK, so we're going to get a helicopter now. OK, we're going to drive a bus or get a blimp."
The project began in January 2021 when the UK had just entered its third lockdown and theatres were all closed. For Crane and actor friend Mark Oosterveen, the future looked bleak - as it did for all theatremakers.
"If you're working in live performance, the idea that ... we [might] never gather together in a darkened space and share stories again, which is kind of what you do with theatre. I thought, that's it, it's over. We'll never do this again," said Crane.
So they immersed themselves in GTA, escaping by hiding within avatars.
They stumbled across a large outdoor theatre, giving them the idea to stage Hamlet, a play known for its meditations on life - and a horrific body count.
As plans get more ambitious, Grylls follows as documentary director and editor, and Oosterveen deals with his own problems.
"His own loneliness and isolation that he felt in the pandemic and his frustration with his life. It's reflected in Hamlet's thoughts, the 'To be, or not to be' speech, which he does in a dive bar."
Hamlet still has much to say to a modern audience, Crane said.
"It's about finding what the connection is between this extraordinary piece of text that's 400 years old, and today's world.
"And there is this great connection, and it's about kind of digging into that and excavating what that is."
Grand Theft Hamlet premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival earlier this year, winning the best documentary jury prize.
Previously, the online production had won the duo an Innovation Award at the 2023 Stage Awards in London.
It's now showing at the New Zealand International Film Festival.