GTA or Grand Theft Auto Online is not one of those places where you would expect the Prince of Denmark to stand and speak the immortal lines written by William Shakespeare in the tragedy, Hamlet. You may ask why? For one, the action-packed game is one of the most inhospitable places. And two: Hamlet is very elaborate to be performed amid explosions and firings coming in from the most unexpected quarters. Yet, the most ardent gamers have a penchant for thrill and popularity. A YouTuber, named Rustic Mascara, recently attempted to perform the play in a public lobby on GTA Online.
Hamlet is a play in which basically everybody dies, and Mascara’s character, too, dies in the game several times over, though in more novel ways than scripted in the classic first published in the early 17th century.
The video shows Mascara first attempting to perform one of Hamlet’s most famous monologues in which the prince reflects on the human condition. As the video begins, he tells other players: “Don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me. I am in peace. I am just trying to do a performance.” But then he is bombed.
In his second attempt, he manages to say a few lines but is bombed again.
“What a piece of work is a man,” he begins on his third attempt, as numerous bullets fly past, killing those around him, “How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty. In form and moving, how express and admirable. In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god.” And then he is hit by a rocket.
Well, Mascara manages to finish the monologue, ultimately. He then asks a GTA player whether they liked it. The player just begins to hum a song.
In another video, Mascara tries to perform Hamlet’s opening scene with a friend.
And again, things don’t go smoothly, as can be expected from the active community of GTA Online. The audience begins shooting down each other, as well as the actors.