THE GREAT AMERICAN CASKET COMPANY
THE GREAT AMERICAN CASKET COMPANY was an original outdoor theater production commissioned by historic Green-Wood Cemetery. Written, produced, and performed by BREAD Arts Collective, in partnership with Modern Rebel & Co., G.A.C.C. was a roving, immersive experience inspired by one of New York's oldest and most beloved secrets.
It told the story of a boisterous and mysterious casket company attempting to sell its "clients" the very best in "afterlife technology." With original music, puppetry, aerialists in trees, plays within plays, and a bit of actual history, the audience was guided through the cemetery at sunset in the hopes that they might more deeply reflect on the value of facing our shared mortality. And, of course, be entertained!
It told the story of a boisterous and mysterious casket company attempting to sell its "clients" the very best in "afterlife technology." With original music, puppetry, aerialists in trees, plays within plays, and a bit of actual history, the audience was guided through the cemetery at sunset in the hopes that they might more deeply reflect on the value of facing our shared mortality. And, of course, be entertained!
Reviews:
Metro New York
"Death doesn't have to be a bummer [...] Just as there’s more to Green-Wood than graves, the show uses death as a jumping-off point to explore what it means to live a good life, and if you’ve done that part right, what happens after you’re gone."
Read here.
Brooklyn Magazine
"It’s not every day you’re asked to hold hands with strangers and jump over your own lifeline together—but that’s one of the early steps on a journey through the past, present, and afterlife that you’ll take during The Great American Casket Company."
Read here.
Huffington Post
"The Great American Casket Company - dares to create a one of a kind experience for the audience."
Read here.
Village Voice
"There's something deeply macabre yet conceptually tempting about theater in a cemetery, and Bread Arts Collective strikes just that chord of morbid curiosity in The Great American Casket Company. The new immersive experience was written and designed specifically for Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, and it fully utilizes the 478-acre grounds as audience members are sent off on a sunset ramble."
Read here.
"Death doesn't have to be a bummer [...] Just as there’s more to Green-Wood than graves, the show uses death as a jumping-off point to explore what it means to live a good life, and if you’ve done that part right, what happens after you’re gone."
Read here.
Brooklyn Magazine
"It’s not every day you’re asked to hold hands with strangers and jump over your own lifeline together—but that’s one of the early steps on a journey through the past, present, and afterlife that you’ll take during The Great American Casket Company."
Read here.
Huffington Post
"The Great American Casket Company - dares to create a one of a kind experience for the audience."
Read here.
Village Voice
"There's something deeply macabre yet conceptually tempting about theater in a cemetery, and Bread Arts Collective strikes just that chord of morbid curiosity in The Great American Casket Company. The new immersive experience was written and designed specifically for Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, and it fully utilizes the 478-acre grounds as audience members are sent off on a sunset ramble."
Read here.
