Grand Theft Hamlet
Transforming an actor's worst fear from "forgetting my lines" to "getting blown up by a stranger dressed as a cowboy stripper".
There's something quaint about trying to produce a play within a game designed to encourage depravity. The world of Grand Theft Auto Online is meant to be experienced surrounded by a persistent hail of gunfire, as you carry out heists with associates you'll inevitably stab in the back before setting out on your own to rack up rewards for slaughtering as many civilians as you can. Which makes it quite charming that simply stumbling across a stage ignited the desire within Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen to figure out how to put on a production of Shakespeare. It was absurd to think they'd ever be able to wrangle a crew made up of strangers, in no small part because it required getting close enough to passerbys without them opening fire. Yet with a sense of joy and determination, and with nothing better to do until the most recent COVID lockdown lifts, they hurl themselves into the task with often hilarious results.
You can find the full review on Pop Culture Maniacs.