Recommended by Rachael Carnes

  • Rachael Carnes: A Monogamy of Swans

    Oh, my heart. Such a lovely play. Minigan sets us down with two former partners and swans, yes, swans, and creatively develops such humor and warmth. This delightful piece would be an anchor in any festival. Treat yourself to reading or producing it!

    Oh, my heart. Such a lovely play. Minigan sets us down with two former partners and swans, yes, swans, and creatively develops such humor and warmth. This delightful piece would be an anchor in any festival. Treat yourself to reading or producing it!

  • Rachael Carnes: The Ring

    A wrenching reminder, a call to action, poetic and resonant, powerful and true. How astonishing to consider how many more incidents of mass gun violence have happened since this play was written. So many, so commonplace, that our hearts and minds barely register them anymore. This play can help to change that.

    A wrenching reminder, a call to action, poetic and resonant, powerful and true. How astonishing to consider how many more incidents of mass gun violence have happened since this play was written. So many, so commonplace, that our hearts and minds barely register them anymore. This play can help to change that.

  • Rachael Carnes: Blue Bench

    This is just divine. An imaginative yet relatable setting, brave and lovable characters, clear, instantaneous conflict, and a reveal so poignant and timeless, it takes your breath away. No wonder this play's making its way around the world. The story is so unique, and so universal, at the very same time.

    This is just divine. An imaginative yet relatable setting, brave and lovable characters, clear, instantaneous conflict, and a reveal so poignant and timeless, it takes your breath away. No wonder this play's making its way around the world. The story is so unique, and so universal, at the very same time.

  • Rachael Carnes: The Assignment (written with Austen Janna Borg)

    A delicate intergenerational conversation, meeting at the intersection between painful memories and a hopeful future. Plummer (and Borg) pack these likable characters with inventory but what's most compelling is what they don't say, the quiet subtext that lingers in the air between them. This winning piece is relevant and timely, and about a moment that can't be forgotten.

    A delicate intergenerational conversation, meeting at the intersection between painful memories and a hopeful future. Plummer (and Borg) pack these likable characters with inventory but what's most compelling is what they don't say, the quiet subtext that lingers in the air between them. This winning piece is relevant and timely, and about a moment that can't be forgotten.

  • Rachael Carnes: Marianas Trench (Part One of The Second World Trilogy)

    My goodness. What an incredible play. Sickles has crafted an architecturally-rendered structure, with gorgeous bones and exquisite detailing. But it's the people, these characters, these kids - Teddy and Anzor - whose deep expression and imagination burn with a filament of bright energy, that refuses to fade away into the incongruous, tattered world around them. Without being ham-fisted or maudlin, Sickles takes on our political and environmental precariousness, our voyage into a strange new world. Not since seeing and reading EM Lewis's "Magellanica" has a play hit my head and my heart so...

    My goodness. What an incredible play. Sickles has crafted an architecturally-rendered structure, with gorgeous bones and exquisite detailing. But it's the people, these characters, these kids - Teddy and Anzor - whose deep expression and imagination burn with a filament of bright energy, that refuses to fade away into the incongruous, tattered world around them. Without being ham-fisted or maudlin, Sickles takes on our political and environmental precariousness, our voyage into a strange new world. Not since seeing and reading EM Lewis's "Magellanica" has a play hit my head and my heart so hard. A beautiful work. Bravo!

  • Rachael Carnes: Les Pamplemousses (a monologue in 12 courses)

    Oh my heart. This monologue is the greatest! So much candor and caution, all rolled up into one budget-busting blowout meal. YOUNG MAN is adorable, instantly, magnetically sympathetic. But how will his admissions land? Is this the beginning of something beautiful, or the beginning of the end? Weaver captures a moment, in the orbiting lives between two humans, when they might represent something to each other ... almost as significant as fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice.

    Oh my heart. This monologue is the greatest! So much candor and caution, all rolled up into one budget-busting blowout meal. YOUNG MAN is adorable, instantly, magnetically sympathetic. But how will his admissions land? Is this the beginning of something beautiful, or the beginning of the end? Weaver captures a moment, in the orbiting lives between two humans, when they might represent something to each other ... almost as significant as fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice.

  • Rachael Carnes: Persephone

    These characters leap off the page, warm and real, speaking a language at once supernatural and earthbound. O'Grady's penchant for rhythm and structure create a brilliant frame, but it's the poetry of her words, and the way that they hang like fragile jewels, that makes this play so completely compelling. A beautiful and moving meditation on grief, in its many morphing transmutations. Brava!

    These characters leap off the page, warm and real, speaking a language at once supernatural and earthbound. O'Grady's penchant for rhythm and structure create a brilliant frame, but it's the poetry of her words, and the way that they hang like fragile jewels, that makes this play so completely compelling. A beautiful and moving meditation on grief, in its many morphing transmutations. Brava!

  • Rachael Carnes: ACCOMMODATION

    This was my second time reading this play, and I am so glad that I did. Burdick provides such an innovative window into the complexities of an educational environment, the way the political intricacies and delicate mechanical balance can all fall apart, like a house of cards. Populated with compelling, richly-drawn characters, this story would be at-home and understood in communities across the country. We all know these teachers and administrators. And we know this kid.

    This was my second time reading this play, and I am so glad that I did. Burdick provides such an innovative window into the complexities of an educational environment, the way the political intricacies and delicate mechanical balance can all fall apart, like a house of cards. Populated with compelling, richly-drawn characters, this story would be at-home and understood in communities across the country. We all know these teachers and administrators. And we know this kid.

  • Rachael Carnes: My Body

    Brilliant and timely, this tight-as-a-drum ten-minute play says everything. I hope it's performed in every corner of the U.S.! Bublitz hits this one over the fence in this important play that's sure to be read and shared and talked about for years to come.

    Brilliant and timely, this tight-as-a-drum ten-minute play says everything. I hope it's performed in every corner of the U.S.! Bublitz hits this one over the fence in this important play that's sure to be read and shared and talked about for years to come.

  • Rachael Carnes: Fernando

    This play is fascinating. I'm a big fan of its geographical leaps, the way it transports us, to the shapes and feel of a new place, drawing our focus to mysteries, trapped forever in two-dimensions, like memories we might want to forget. Haworth creates remarkably rich details and story, with only three characters, in a sweeping narrative, with drama and farce, intrigue and nuance. I like a play that makes me swim a little, that makes me think. This is one that's both accessible, and intelligent.

    This play is fascinating. I'm a big fan of its geographical leaps, the way it transports us, to the shapes and feel of a new place, drawing our focus to mysteries, trapped forever in two-dimensions, like memories we might want to forget. Haworth creates remarkably rich details and story, with only three characters, in a sweeping narrative, with drama and farce, intrigue and nuance. I like a play that makes me swim a little, that makes me think. This is one that's both accessible, and intelligent.