Grand Theft Hamlet: A Fascinating Mashup of 17th-Century Theatre, 21st-Century Gaming, and Pandemic Lockdown

By Chris Knight

Rating: A

There have been some bizarre productions of Shakespeare over the centuries. Filmed versions began as early as 1899, with one 1909 movie cramming all of A Midsummer Night’s Dream into 11 minutes. Take that, Kenneth Branagh!

There’s was a 1940 Popeye cartoon version of Romeo & Juliet; a live TV performance by the Beatles of a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and Forbidden Planet, a 1956 reimagining of The Tempest on an alien world.

As for oddball locations, productions have taken place on planes and subways, in cemeteries, hospitals, grocery stores, zoos, and, as far back as 1607, at sea. I can find no record of Shakespeare having been performed in space, although a translation of Hamlet into Klingon seems to come close, as does a balloon trip to the edge of the atmosphere by a portrait of the Bard in 2023.

I would be remiss not to mention London’s 2015 staging of King Lear with Sheep, or the recent Toronto production of Goblin Macbeth. And to these may now be added Grand Theft Hamlet, both the 2022 performance and a new movie about its production.

The idea was the brainstorm of Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen, two British actors furloughed by the pandemic. During a session in the game Grand Theft Auto — a violent online action-adventure game — they came upon an outdoor amphitheatre and wondered whether it might be possible to stage a play within the game.

I mean, why not? The web series Red vs. Blue had been created inside the game Halo all the way back in 2003. But to put on the entirely of Hamlet would require more than two actors, plus a lot of patience. Shooting in GTA means dealing with the constant risk of being shot by another player in the game, for real. Well, not for-real-for-real, but you know what I mean.

As filmed by Pinny Grylls (Crane’s spouse), GTH is a fascinating mashup of 17th-century theatre, 21st-century gaming, and pandemic lockdown — Station 11 meets Free Guy, if you will.

Avatars of human players show up, equally likely to open fire or just quietly watch the proceedings, before logging off and quite literally disappearing. Non-playable characters gather ’round, slack-jawed yet oddly sympathetic. “They’re just NPCs; don’t worry about them,” someone remarks, referencing “non-player characters.”

Crane and Oosterveen recruit thespians — some professionals, others in that weird Venn overlap of gaming/Shakespeare enthusiasts. They scout in-game locations, which include a rocky shore for Act 3, scene 1 (“To be or not to be”) and a dirigible for a scene with a ghost, to which Hamlet reacts with, “Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!”

And they question whether it’s worth their while, as actors drop out in favour of real-life pursuits, and Grylls begins to wonder if her husband has just become a gaming addict using the Bard as an excuse to go online.

But ultimately, Grand Theft Hamlet — again, I’m referring to both the performance and the movie — is an emotional triumph. Best of all, you don’t need to be an experienced gamer to enjoy it, though I’m sure there are in-jokes for the initiated.

The film has spent most of a year on the festival circuit, racking up some impressive nominations and prizes. It now moves to a streaming service without a major theatrical release, which, for a video-game-shot story, does seem appropriate. But it also forces would-be viewers to ask: MUBI, or not MUBI?

Grand Theft Hamlet. Directed by Sam Crane, and Pinny Grylls. With Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen. Streaming from February 21 on MUBI.