Final Rating: 4/5
To be, or not to be: that is the question.
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them?
Through an avatar with bright turquoise buzz cut and a white tank top, actor Sam Crane walks around the beach of Grand Theft Auto Online’s virtual world, delivering Shakespeare’s famous lines. The powerful soliloquy is placed in a new context as Crane muses on the meaning of life while players around him shoot at him, each other, and virtual police.
Grand Theft Hamlet, the latest feature from director Pinny Grylls, documents the process of Grylls, Crane, and Mark Osterveen to stage a live production of Hamlet within the virtual world of GTA during the UK’s third COVID lockdown in early 2021.
An overtly cynical parody of real-life Los Angeles, the world of GTA is intended as a playground mostly for crime and violent fantasies – a fact reflected often in the film through random notices popping up instructing the audience to do things like “cause the highest value of damage to vehicles and other players.” When Crane et al. decide instead to stage a piece of theatre, they’re not met with resistance so much as violent indifference. Approaching random players with “we’re performing Hamlet, would you like to come see?” is most often a prelude to the thespians’ deaths, as they’ve simply made themselves easy targets for players killing time in more game-intended ways.
And yet, the violent world of GTA is strangely suited to a State of Denmark in which something is rotten. Shakespeare’s plays depict a violent world in which a life of constant suffering prompts a philosophical response as often as it does a violent one.
Despite initial reservations, it’s not long before the production of Hamlet has found its cast, introducing a host of hilarious side characters. From talented stage and voice actors to Shakespeare enthusiasts presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, the dedication the cast brings to the project is inspiring. Equally heartwarming are the non-actors who take to supporting the production.
The breakout star of Hamlet is a Tunisian-Finnish man with an alien avatar who becomes the production’s “bodyguard”, protecting the actors during rehearsals from… people playing GTA. During one of the film’s most emotional scenes, the alien, unfamiliar with Shakespeare but excited to interact with his new friends, gets on stage and recites a verse from the Qu’ran to an awestruck audience.
Grand Theft Hamlet is the story of a successful production of a play but done by people who have to figure out what doing a play in GTA even means. It’s the story of something never done before, and quickly becomes a story about the obsession to get it right. Crane, Grylls, and Osterveen are shown devoting ludicrous amounts of time to living in the world of GTA, rehearsing at all hours, spending what free time they have location and costume scouting. Eventually, GTA becomes the primary way in which the three interact, despite being real-life friends, and Grylls and Crane being married with children.
One scene late into the film depicts a real argument between the two about their relationship, happening in game while they are physically in separate rooms of the same house. In one way, these are artists losing themselves in their art, but put less romantically, Grand Theft Hamlet shows a struggle with isolation that was all too familiar during the pandemic.
“To be or not to be” is shown being rehearsed in its entirety, Crane not only delivering a phenomenal performance, but actively struggling with the themes of the soliloquy. Do the passersby like his performance? Does he like his performance? Does anyone actually care about this stupid play in this stupid game?
Osterveen struggles with this isolation more explicitly. A single man with no remaining family, GTA becomes his main way of staying social during the pandemic. When Crane logs off, he gets to spend time with his wife and kids. When Osterveen logs off, it’s just him. Even in the final minutes of the film, after a successful production of Hamlet that would eventually be recognized by the Stage Awards, the main question on Osterveen and Crane’s mind is “what now?”
Grand Theft Hamlet was seen during the 2024 Hot Docs Film Festival. Check out our Hot Docs wrap up podcast.
