WE ARE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT We are such stuff as dreams are made on has been awarded the 2022 Critics’ Choice Award.
The jury — which comprises Simonetta Fadda, Stefano Locati and Jenna NG — found Sam Crane’s attempt to perform Shakespeare within Grand Theft Auto Online “daring”, “wildly original”, and “pleasantly absurdist”. As one juror wrote, “Ionesco would have loved it”.
We are such stuff as dreams is featured in the NO DRAMA, PLEASE back-to-back program.
Project description: What happens if you try to perform Shakespeare inside a public lobby in Grand Theft Auto Online, a game space notorious for its aggression and gratuitous violence? You might expect the other players in your server — randomly allocated from anywhere in the world — to respond with heavy weaponry, perhaps a mini SMG, or a compact grenade launcher. And indeed, this is often what happens. Yet occasionally you may come across someone responding in an entirely unexpected manner... We are such stuff as dreams are made on appropriates the notoriously violent and misogynistic world of Grand Theft Auto, and transforms it as a space for live performance of Shakespeare. It also questions the very notion of “play”.
Watch an excerpt
A talented stage actor, critically acclaimed for his performances at the National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, in The West End, and on Broadway, Sam Crane began his career playing the renowned Polish artist and theater maker Tadeusz Kantor in A little Requiem for Kantor at the London International Mime Festival, went on to perform with contemporary physical theater pioneers Frantic Assembly, and most recently garnered stellar reviews and an Off West End nomination for his solo performance in Rage of Narcissus by Sergio Blanco. He has collaborated with influential artists such as Sir Mark Rylance, Katie Mitchell, and Robert Icke. A prolific screen actor, Sam has appeared in several television series including The Crown (Netflix), The Trial of Christine Keeler (BBC), COBRA (Sky), Poldark (BBC), Endeavour (ITV) and Call The Midwife (BBC). In the guise of his alter ego Rustic Mascara, he attracted over 50 thousand views in two weeks to his attempts to perform Shakespeare inside Grand Theft Auto Online. His machinima were featured in film retrospectives and art exhibitions in Europe (Videopark, Uzice, Serbia) and the USA (Pandemic Projections: Visions for a New Normal, New Jersey), among others.
Read an interview with Sam Crane
