Overview
Two unemployed friends have a fresh idea: They want to stage Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' in Grand Theft Auto. But even in a virtual world, reality intrudes in a wild and trippy film shot entirely inside the ultra-violent video game.
In the UK in early 2021, as another lockdown hit and theatres and venues were closed down, two out of work actors, Sam and Mark, had nothing to do aside from hang out in the detailed landscape of Grand Theft Auto. When a typical chase in the game led them to discover the Vinewood Bowl – the in-game version of the Hollywood Bowl – it sparked an idea. Could these two actors bring Shakespeare to the virtual world of Grand Theft Auto? So it began that they started plans to perform a complete performance of the play within the typically ultra-violent virtual world of the game.
Shot entirely within the game engine, what begins as an amusing look at trying to perform something serious within a world where random strangers will seek to cause mayhem, this documentary becomes something much more as the pair begin to recruit other players for the performance, and scout locations in which to play each scene. It becomes an analysis of the lives of the people who are drawn to the idea, from wannabe thespians for whom life just got in the way of their dreams, who due to the lockdowns of covid see a chance to fulfil their ambitions, to random friendlies who simply tag along to offer assistance either by ferrying cast from location to location, or offer a protective hand dispatching any griefers who look set to cause mayhem. This is a film about finding community out of chaos, and finding a purpose in a time when it feels like real life has nothing left to offer.
This is a poignant and beautiful film about real lives in a virtual environment – the wonderfully detailed game engine of GTA Online is an absolutely beautiful environment, and the film takes moments to really reflect on the wonder of this virtual world. The auditions held with those who wish to participate allow for each to offer insight into who they are as people, and what this online community means to them. At the mid-point of the film, as some of the players are returning to work and all looks hopeless for the ambition of getting the play presented, there is a moment of tension between Mark and Sam which really hits home what the lockdowns did for some of us, and how important this project was.
Grand Theft Hamlet is a fascinating, moving, touching, poignant, and genuinely funny look at virtual communities, and bringing something artistic into a chaotic world, offering enticing parallels to the world around us and how even in the darkest of times, art can bring us all together.