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Connectivity: Grand Theft Hamlet
with Sam Crane & Pinny Grylls (filmmakers)
Saturday, April 25 / 2:00 PM
Pollock Theater, UCSB
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In Grand Theft Hamlet (2024), actors Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen find themselves out of work when theaters shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. Uncertain about their futures, they turn to the virtual space of Grand Theft Auto Online, embarking on the improbable project of casting and producing a live staging of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet within the game’s chaotic landscape. Directed by Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls, the documentary is comprised entirely of in-game footage, with all of the subjects depicted by their online avatars. The film chronicles the challenges of mounting theater in an unconventional space—from scouting locations and coordinating auditions with players around the globe to navigating rehearsal conflicts—while also capturing unexpected moments of connection during a period of global isolation. Both a celebration of the creative possibilities shared by theater, video games, and cinema, and a poignant reflection on the artistic process, Grand Theft Hamlet explores the enduring human need for connection through art. The film received widespread critical acclaim, winning the SXSW Jury Award, a Grierson Award, and two British Independent Film Awards.
Please note: This event will not feature a screening of the documentary. The format for this event will be a live discussion between filmmakers Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls, and moderator Miguel Penabella (Carsey-Wolf Center, UCSB). They will discuss the making of Grand Theft Hamlet, and the process of casting, producing, rehearsing, and staging a live production of Hamlet in Grand Theft Auto Online. Patrons may choose to watch the film in advance of this discussion via MUBI, which offers a special sixty day student membership trial (and a seven day non-student membership trial), but advance viewing of the film will not be necessary to appreciate the discussion.
Sponsored by the Carsey-Wolf Center and presented in conjunction with the UCSB Library exhibition Infinite Variety: The Many Lives of Shakespeare’s Texts.
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Sam Crane
(filmmaker)
Sam Crane is an award-winning actor, filmmaker, and researcher. With his partner Pinny Grylls, he runs Project 1961, a creative studio working at the intersection of cinema, live performance, and video games. Their debut film, Grand Theft Hamlet, won the SXSW Jury Award, a Grierson Award, and two BIFAs. They are currently developing the hybrid IRL/video game performance Sound & Fury and the documentary Non-Playable Character. Sam has starred in West End and Broadway productions, including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and 1984. He is a PhD candidate at the University of York.
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Pinny Grylls
(filmmaker)
Pinny Grylls is a BAFTA Breakthrough Artist and BFI Chanel Award winner for her debut feature Grand Theft Hamlet. She works across documentary, theatre, and ethnography, and is known for formally adventurous work exploring performance and human connection. Her films have screened internationally, and she has directed for Channel 4, The Guardian, and the BBC. She lost her hearing in 2016 and is now a proud member of the deaf community and a British Sign Language user.
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Miguel Penabella
(Carsey-Wolf Center, UCSB)
Miguel Penabella is Assistant Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center and a PhD candidate in Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He writes as a freelance videogame critic, with bylines in Playboy, Vice, Kill Screen, and Unwinnable, among others. He is a former editor and monthly columnist for Haywire Magazine. At UCSB, he taught the Experimental Games course as part of the campus’s Creative Computing Initiative.
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