If you saw The Great Comet on Broadway, you’ll remember Gelsey Bell as the “plain” Mary. Well, Gelsey is anything but plain. She’s a beautiful artist who makes extraordinary art. Her latest is a theatrical walking tour of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery called Cairns that she co-wrote with Joseph White, commissioned by HERE as part of its new #stillHERE: IRL series. In Cairns, you take a walk with the dead in what I’d like to call a “walking tour with very solemn jazz hands.” It’s a perfect piece of theater for a time when social distancing is necessary and any time outside in the real world is cherished. An extremely large and cool cemetery is a perfect place to get some fresh air and be way more than six feet away from others, all while re-introducing IRL-ish theatre back into your life…even on a cloudy day!
Gelsey is only there with you in your headphones via downloaded MP3s during this self-guided tour that you can do at any time on your own (within cemetery opening hours, of course!), but you’ll feel like she’s right there next to you as you meander around the overwhelmingly peaceful cemetery with her poetic and philosophical piece as your guide. Prepare for an incredibly soothing and peaceful hour and a half as Gelsey encourages you to be reflective, yet attentive, while deliberately merging the real sounds all around you into the musical soundscape she and Joseph created. Your attention will be drawn to things you won’t find on a map: You’ll visit the graves of revolutionary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, an advertising exec that was one of the inspirations for Mad Men, trailblazing scientists from the 19th century, and many hidden gems that are a part of what Gelsey refers to as “American History Royalty”.
Check out the trailer for Cairns below.
You’ll be almost afraid to say goodbye to Gelsey by the end of the piece. Personally, I’d now prefer that she was writing and narrating my life as I walk around every day!
Cairns is $7 to download and runs indefinitely.