Few works of art have ever enjoyed as much acclaim and enduring popularity as Shakespeare’s plays have.
Hundreds of years after they were written down, Shakespeare’s plays are still performed in theaters throughout the world, often serving as a stepping stone for aspiring actors hoping to test their mettle in front of a captivated audience.
Shakespeare’s plays aren’t merely limited to the realm of theater. Several film adaptations of his works have been released through the years, such as Kenneth Branagh’s critically acclaimed “Henry V” from 1989 or Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” from 2021, starring Denzel Washington as the eponymous tragic figure.
It is thus not entirely surprising that the works of Shakespeare would eventually find their way into the virtual realm.
“Grand Theft Hamlet” isn’t actually a film adaptation of “Hamlet” shot within the video game “Grand Theft Auto V.” Rather, it’s a documentary that follows English actors Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen’s attempts at staging a production of “Hamlet” within the game.
What sets this film apart from other documentaries is that it’s entirely shot within “Grand Theft Auto,” with the only real-life footage appearing at the very end. It’s an entirely unorthodox method of documentary filmmaking that takes an already absurd premise and amplifies it twofold, to great success.
Crane and his wife, Pinny Grylls, both worked as writers and directors on the movie, with Grylls’s experience as a documentary filmmaker coming into play with her in-game avatar functioning as the cameraman, documenting the process from beginning to end.
What started off as Crane and Oosterveen reciting a soliloquy in an in-game amphitheater soon devolves into the anarchic violence typical for a “Grand Theft Auto” game, with other players attempting to kill their avatars and police NPCs fast roping from helicopters to gun them down.
Despite these setbacks, the actors realize that a stage production of “Hamlet” within “Grand Theft Auto” is a completely feasible prospect, and begin making plans to realize their vision.
Producing a play in a video game comes with its own set of difficulties, of course. Unlike traditional theater, Crane and Oosterveen are largely relegated to directing actors solely through their microphones, with the occasional gun being drawn to point out where they want the participants to move.
Even with these factors accounted for, the two have to contend with other online players popping up to disrupt their production, often resulting in most of the crew dying at the hands of overzealous players wishing to sate their bloodlust. At one point, a rehearsal is interrupted by another player launching missiles at the production from a gunship, forcing the crew to fight back and reset the rehearsal.
Despite these difficulties, Crane and Oosterveen are finally able to achieve their vision, and the documentary showcases clips from their 2021 livestream of the production in “Grand Theft Auto.” As the actors perform their curtain call at the end of the stream, Crane and Oosterveen give them the all-clear to go guns blazing, and the actors soon turn on each other and begin gunning each other down in a blaze of glory.
“Grand Theft Hamlet” is not the first film to be shot entirely within a video game. The term “machinima” describes any animated film shot within the confines of a game engine, with one notable example being Rooster Teeth’s “Red vs. Blue” series.
What sets “Grand Theft Hamlet” apart from other machinimas is its pathos. Staging “Hamlet” within “Grand Theft Auto” wasn’t merely the brainchild of two bored actors, but rather a very real reaction to the isolation Crane and Oosterveen felt within the COVID-19 pandemic. Both actors found themselves out of work as the United Kingdom went into lockdown, and thus subsequently found solace in playing a game that they both mutually enjoyed.
Faced with few prospects to exercise their profession, Crane and Oosterveen found “Grand Theft Auto” to be a suitable medium with which they could practice their passion. For all its absurdities, “Grand Theft Hamlet” perhaps best stands as a testament to human ingenuity and creativity.
