I’ve seen many interpretations of it Hamlet — various actors taking on Shakespeare’s iconic story in both stage and film formats. But Grand theft hamlet offers something I’ve never seen before, which is a production of the play set in the world of GTA Online. However, the upcoming film isn’t just a beat-for-beat recreation of the play’s play; it is actually a documentary about the staging and organization of the project, which required serious work.
Co-directed by British couple Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane, the former a documentary filmmaker and the latter an actor. Grand theft hamlet arose as a result of the pandemic. With the world in various states of lockdown and quarantine, and Crane out of work as an actor given that whole situation, the pair turned to video games as a place to perform a play, and filmed this documentary about the process .
The result looks alternately hilarious and deadly serious, as the trailer makes very clear. The bizarre project keeps getting interrupted by other players, and yet what’s heartwarming is the number of other players who have decided to actually help make it happen, despite the inherent difficulties of the setting. This is the kind of weird art project I like to see.
Grand theft hamlet hits theaters on January 17th and it will be streaming on Mubi at a future date.