←Recommendations of AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION, A Play for Videoconference

Weird times indeed! Carnes captures the helpless, chaotic feeling that overwhelmed many at the beginning of the pandemic in this fascinating and absurd piece. This is a great slice from a very specific moment in time.

A play that captures the isolation and helplessness of day four of the pandemic and yet it still smarts. Well done to playwright Rachael Carnes for capturing the absurdity and chaos of it all.

What a trip! Rachael Carnes takes you on the Zoom ride where nothing is off limits and technically there aren’t any limitations. The dialogue lends itself to a frenzied pace where you are forced out of your mainstream box. My favorite line was about the toaster needing to be unplugged between uses. Fantastic play!

What absurdity can isolation create? And in only four days! Rachael’s play is a madcap exchange between two isolated individuals who have had the quarantine squash most of their ability to have rational conversation. Yet one or two rays of brilliance shine through, e.g., consider this: “What if cows gave root beer instead of milk? …Where would we get the ice cream for root beer floats?” A fun read!

RACHAEL CARNES’play, “AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION, A Play for Videoconference”, made me laugh out loud, question whether or not I might be acting like these characters after all this isolation, and realize zaniness may have become the new normal at least for 2020. I love this play!

Discovering this play on my computer in my to-read file, even though it's blinded, I knew instantly it was written by Rachael Carnes and strapped myself in for the wild ride! Thrilling and completely full of the strangeness I've come to expect and the joy that makes Carnes's work so much fun to read. And because it's a zoom play, I believe that one day I'll have the pleasure of actually seeing it performed!

Two words: Wombat Altruism.
A few more words: this play manages to capture the surrealism of this past year without feeling gimmicky or on-the-nose. It's bizarre but authentic because these are bizarre times. Excellent work!

I'm not sure what just happened, but it sounds about right! Certainly an Ives for the Age. I lost my mind a little more than I already had, but I certainly heartily enjoyed the process!

A great piece for zoom and a window into the absurd. Rachael’s piece gives space to breathe and gives the director & actors freedom to play. Certainly a fun one for these strange times!

David Ives, but for Zoom.
And yet we feel each sudden twist or turn in the conversation that seems to go nowhere and everywhere deep down within our SOULS.
Carnes transcends Zoom fatigue for a conversation that reveals nothing and everything ... and this was on Day Four! Where are these characters nearly a year later? Are they OK? Are any of us OK?
Her play is a mirror, a time capsule (for a brief time period that's lasted longer than perhaps originally thought), a moment captured in time. Carnes makes this medium sing.
Cheers to wombat altruism.