Greenlight Acting Studios Presents THE SONGS WE SING AT FUNERALS in Roswell, 7/17-20

Dark comedy The Songs We Sing at Funerals will get its first fully-staged production July 17-20 at the Country Club of Roswell. Presented by Greenlight Acting Studios, the production is directed by studio owner Erin Bethea, with an array of local talent filling the cast. Tickets are now on sale at GreenlightActingStudios.com.

The Songs We Sing at Funerals is a darkly funny, deeply human tapestry of grief, dysfunction, and the strange beauty of goodbyes. Told through a series of loosely connected funeral vignettes, the play brings together an ensemble of mourners—siblings, spouses, ex-lovers, friends, and the occasional fugitive—who wrestle with the absurdity of death, the weight of memory, and the need to laugh when everything hurts. 

Written by John David Brown, this will be the play’s first full-scale production, having been workshopped over the last two years. It will receive an additional reading this August in New York City by the Barr Hill Players.

“There’s perhaps never been a more perfect time for a play like this: one that makes us laugh at life’s absurdities, faces challenges with unfiltered truth, and allows space for us to heal from pain. We’re thrilled to be bringing it to the world!” says Bethea. 

Brown originally created the play as independent scenes, often as submissions for play festivals. When he noticed he kept writing about funerals, he knew he had to pull them together into one anthology play. 

“From my conversation with Erin Bethea, I could tell she had an innate understanding of this piece, so I’m beyond thrilled that she’s returning to direct,” the playwright says. “The actors she’s assembled represent some of Atlanta’s finest. Many are returning from the workshop, and the new additions to the cast are either established veterans or exciting rising talent who are booked and busy.” 

The cast features Suellen Burton, Warren Levi Haney, J.R. Hartigan, Sara Hayter, Savannah Hutson, Julie Kashmanian, Rebecca Koon, Michelle Neil, Amey Richards, Luke Roness, Charlie Scaglione, Jonathan Lee Taylor, and Drew Waters.

“This play is for anyone who has ever stifled a laugh during a funeral, made an inappropriate joke in a eulogy, or found themselves with mixed feelings about the deceased,” says Brown. “We hope this first fully-staged production will provide some levity, catharsis, and healing from the universal experience of grief.”

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