No Longer “Merely Players”: Porting the Elements of Theatre into Video Gaming

This chapter explores the development of “game/plays,” or pieces of live theatre developed by professional theatremakers within video game worlds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two game/play case studies—Celine Song’s The Seagull on the Sims 4; and Sam Crane’s Grand Theft Hamlet—are examined to articulate some unique characteristics of this new form. Through the author’s personal impressions gathered from playthroughs, along with interviews with creators and performers of each game/play, the future (im)possibilities of this form within the future of theatrical presentation are considered.