20:30 Doors Open

21:00 Start Screening 

We would normally never bother you with yet another staging of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Maybe someday a noise concert combined with The Lion King. But that's beside the point.

Grand Theft Hamlet might just be the most experimental staging of Hamlet ever made, because it's performed entirely within the world of Grand Theft Auto Online. When all theatres shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, two actors, Sam and Mark, begin to question their future. In the virtual chaos of Grand Theft Auto Online, they find an unexpected outlet: they decide to perform Hamlet there, in its entirety, right in the middle of cars, guns, violence, and the unpredictability of other online players. Not just the two of them, but with the help of complete strangers. Will they succeed? I’d say, by definition, yes.

This film aligns seamlessly with our festival’s interdisciplinary vision. It’s an innovative cross-pollination of artistic forms, opening a unique dialogue between past and future, and between high and popular culture.