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When COVID closed down UK theaters, actors performed Hamlet in GTA online. And soon, you can watch it
Grand Theft Hamlet, coming to Mubi soon, is what happens when Rockstar's MMORPG becomes a home for out of work actors during the COVID-19 lockdown
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William Shakespeare, contrary to popular belief, did not live the high-society life that most people assume. He was a member of the working class and, by extension, had his shows performed in common spaces. Had he been in a similar social status today, his plays may have been performed via a series of TikToks, perhaps on a Twitch channel, or maybe even in the context of an MMORPG.
And thanks to an upcoming experimental documentary, we'll soon get to experience what the latter would've been like.
Grand Theft Hamlet is a story about the power of art overcoming societal obstacles in all forms. It begins in the early days of 2021, when the UK (particularly, the UK's theaters) were still under lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bored and looking for an outlet to perform, artists Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen had a strange and possibly revolutionary idea - they would stage a performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet...
Live in the world of Grand Theft Auto Online.
The result of their idea was a strange blend of reality and fiction in a world already upended by strangeness. Crand and Oosterveen went about holding auditions, casting our-of-work actors (who appear in the game via their avatars) and staging the performance for a live(ish) audience at a time they promoted across social media platforms. The performance and its lead up was recorded and turned into the documentary GRand Theft Hamlet, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in 2024. Watch the trailer below.
If you're in the UK, you may still be able to catch screenings of the reality-blurring documentary in cinemas. But for those of us stateside, we're going to have to wait until the doc drops on Mubi to see how Crane and Oosterveen's performance turned out.
We like to think that, even if it was met with an energy that man-of-the-people Bill Shakespeare wasn't thrilled with, it was at least one that was familiar to him.
Grand Theft Hamlet drops on Mubi January 17, 2025.
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