Grand Theft Auto: How Shakespeare’s Hamlet found the virtual stage

How do you keep Shakespeare fresh after 400 years? Two actors found an unexpected answer within the computer game Grand Theft Auto (GTA).

Stopped from working due to the Covid pandemic, Sam Crane and Mark Ostrowen turned to online gaming.

The UK-based duo decided to mount a virtual production of Hamlet within the online version of GTA.

It will be the first time in the play’s 400-year history that the actors need to be protected by a fighter jet – specifically piloted by a glowing green alien.

GTA is set in the Los Angeles-inspired city of Los Santos and sees players create and control their own characters – known as avatars – in the fictional state of San Andreas.

Players can personalize their homes, clothes and vehicles and enjoy virtual entertainment activities including sports, gambling and nightclubs.

The idea to bring Shakespeare to Los Santos came to Crane and Ostrowen when their avatars stumbled across an abandoned amphitheater called Wynwood Bowl in the play.

Seduced Can theater be revived in this virtual arena while Britain’s real-life theaters are closed?

Like any real-life drama, production began with auditions.

“This is William Shakespeare’s Hamlet,” Crane’s in-game character announces to a group of hopeful avatars. “I believe it’s the first time it’s ever been offered at Wynwood Bowl.

“If I can only request that you stop killing each other,” he pleaded. “And don’t hit the actors either.”

But as expected, the murderous massacre happened.

GTA is notorious for its violent content – and bloodshed. Definitely fits the plot. of the original drama, in which (spoiler) almost everyone dies.

One of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, the story follows Prince Hamlet, who is inspired by the ghost of his father to avenge his death by killing his uncle, the usurper of the throne.

The actors’ attempt to bring theater into the world of gaming inspired Crane’s wife, filmmaker Penny Girls, to make a documentary called Grand Theft Hamlet.

Shot entirely in-game, the film features the girls, Crane and Ostrowen as their on-screen avatars – controlled and voiced by their real-world counterparts – as they act out the drama in GTA. Try to do and prepare.

“We found that the most important thing in moments of stress [is to] Dig deep and try to find creative solutions to existential crises,” Girls tells BBC News.

The trio were not alone in turning to the virtual world as a coping mechanism. Data from research company Nielsen 82% of global users engaged with gaming content during the pandemic lockdown – a record high for the medium.

The documentary portrays this need for escapism – often with bitter humor.

“I’m so sick of hackney,” the girls say as they drive from sun-kissed Los Santos to Crane’s virtual flat.

“It’s like we just started dating again and you’re taking me to your place.”

And since it’s been years since the pandemic lockdown, the film offers an opportunity for reflection.

“A lot of people have found solace and emotional catharsis in this film,” says Crane.

Grand Theft Hamlet isn’t the first film to adopt a visual style in a game – known as Machinima. But the contrast between the virtual world it portrays and the bleak real-world context in which it is created sets it apart.

“There’s a positivity in our film, yes, despite the kind of trauma we were going through,” says Crane.

“There’s still something…creative.”

Grylls was particularly impressed by the strong “sense of community” fostered by the wide variety of players who responded to his virtual casting call.

They include DJ Phil89 – a Hamlet-loving literary agent borrowing from his nephew’s account for the audition, who struts around in a top hat and aviators as his shirtless male avatar.

Par Tab, half Finnish, half Tunisian, appears as a bright green alien. Overwhelmed by his poor English, he gives an impassioned audition, reciting an Islamic prayer in impromptu Arabic – an emotional reminder of the surrounding pandemic.

Ultimately, ParTeb chooses to be the cast’s protector-in-chief, protecting them from mid-performance attacks – for once in true (intergalactic) Top Gun fashion, piloting a fighter jet to save the day.

“It made me realize that people who play aren’t just one type of person,” says Grills.

Crane hopes his film can help show how game spaces can foster genuine real-world connections.

And points to it. World of Warcraft Documentary of the Year, The Remarkable Life of Abelenwhich explores how Matt Stein, a young gamer with the life-limiting degenerative condition Duchenne muscular dystrophy, creates a vibrant secret life online.

“It’s finally coming into the public consciousness,” says Crane. “These relationships with people within the game, they can be very real.”

Despite its moments of humor and lightness, Grand Theft Hamlet can’t quite escape the painful reality of the lockdown.

When Girls, speaking in-game, asks Crane if he’s okay, his response is quick: “Not really… I don’t have anything anymore.”

And tensions are heightened by the bleak state of the arts, Crane says, referring to then-Gov. A highly satirical ad encouraging artists to “re-skill” in cyber security.

Mental health struggles are on one side of all three.

Oosterveen struggles with loneliness as a lonely man – recounting the loss of his only remaining relative.

And, as the documentary progresses, the girls openly argue with Crane, accusing him of neglecting family duties through his growing obsession with sports.

For some peace in the Los Santos chaos, Crane buys a virtual office to plan meetings, paying to rename his foyer Elsinore, a nod to the Danish castle in the hamlet.

But the group soon begins to question the value of the art and what they are trying to create, especially when Depot, the player originally cast as Hamlet, begins to question his new “real world.” Skips rehearsals for the job.

A reality check sees Crane dismissing his plan as “not the real thing”, only for Ostrowen’s frustrations to boil over.

“You have a wife, you have children,” he says, “I have none of them.”

Reviews of Grand Theft Hamlet have praised its innovative emotional depth.

“It’s an unforgettable experience that speaks volumes about following your dreams despite the challenges that await” IGN wrote.

Variety said It took Shakespeare to a “whole new dimension”.

And Crane thinks traditional stage plays can learn from gaming, a more accessible medium.

“With theater, you need to be in a place with a rich culture for it,” he says. “But with gaming, anyone can pick up a console, play and express their creativity.”

Young cast member Nora seized the opportunity. She openly thanks those who gave her the opportunity to act and express herself freely, especially when one is undergoing a gender transition.

“It’s amazing that his first production experience of Shakespeare, after being at school, was in Grand Theft Auto,” says Girls. “That’s what really got us going, the fact that people kept coming back because they wanted to.”

Grylls, Crane and Ostrowen are determined to be insane. His documentary has won festival awards, screened at the BFI London Film Festival, has been released in cinemas and will be broadcast on Mubi next year.

His success continued with Crane and Girls at the British Independent Film Awards on Sunday Jointly winning the Best Debut Director (Feature Documentary) category. The film also won the Raindance Maverick Award, celebrating bold, creative filmmakers.

So what about the future?

Last month, the government announced the Royal Shakespeare Company. See future productions using artificial intelligence and immersive technology.

And without spoiling Hamlet’s final performance in GTA, one scene is staged atop a blimp.

It’s a wonderful metaphor for ambition (even when some of the actors and audience members accidentally get killed).

In the words of Shakespeare: “All the world’s a stage.”

Grand Theft Hamlet is released in UK and Irish cinemas on December 6, then will be broadcast globally on Mobi in early 2025.