Hello Legion Gamers!

A curious uplifting story for your day: the Grand Theft Hamlet documentary is coming out soon. Check out the trailer:


It has a bit of a tale behind it. It all started back in 2021 amidst the UK's pandemic lockdown when theatres were closed down. Which left a lot of actors without work, and among them were Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen. To help them cope with isolation and pressure, the two took to spending time playing MMO Grand Theft Auto together and in that digital world, they found a stage. This discovery led them to the idea to stage a full production of Hamlet within the game.

Luckily for us, Sam’s wife Pinny is a documentary filmmaker, and she joined them in the game to record their attempts. The resulting film, as from the official synopsis, "charts their ridiculous, hilarious and moving adventure as they battle violent griefers and discover surprising truths about life, friendship and the enduring power of Shakespeare." You can read more about the story behind it here.

The film has since received positive reviews at South by Southwest and later was shown at BFI London Film Festival as well. As for theatres, it will be shown thanks to Mubi, the company that brought The Substance film to the cinemas before, those who enjoy horrors may remember that one ( @DracoTarot?). Britain and Ireland will be the first to see it at the beginning of December, and the rest of the world will catch up at the beginning of 2025.

I think there is a lesson here, about the power of video games to bring people together and give them the opportunity to try and make amazing things and live through hardships and adversities, about the immortal and transcending power behind art and theatre craft, and about not losing hope and trying to find joy even in bleak situations. Or maybe not and I am digging too deep 😅 Either way, if nothing else, I hope the news about the GTA Hamlet production brightens your day a bit 😉