McMath has had a multi-faceted career. As a prize-winning playwright, an award-winning historian, and a published author she’s created modern and historical plays and adaptations, historic fiction, living history productions and documentaries, and the books and librettos of musicals and operas. She also holds 35 years of experience directing, producing, and arts and theatre management. She enjoys giving talks on a wide range of topics, and currently manages the website of the non-profit Arts for All - Loudoun.
PLAYWRIGHT
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 MUSICAL BOOK WRITER / OPERA LIBRETTEST
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McMATH REVIEWS / AWARDS
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THEATRE PRODUCER / DIRECTOR
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DOCUMENTARY & HISTORY PROGRAM WRITER / PRODUCER
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FICTION / NON-FICTION AUTHOR
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I’ve been a storyteller all my life and worked hard to fill the tales with characters who can pull you into their world - let you experience their joys and sorrows, humor, intrigue and plot twists. And if you walk in their shoes and come away glad you did, I know I’ve told their story well.
- Meredith Bean McMath
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PLAYWRIGHT AND LIBRETTIST Winning acclaim for original works such as Norton: A Civil War Opera (Concept and libretto by McMath, music composed by David E. Chåvez), Case 22 (which premiered at the 2010 Capital Fringe Festival), and All for the Union, which was performed at the 2019 Capital Fringe Festival, McMath continues to write plays and work with creative partners in the arts to find new ways to bring story to life.  ARMS AND THE HIGHLANDER, McMath's adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's ARMS AND THE MAN
Her 10-minute play Sticks and Stones took First Prize in the Source Theatre Competition, and another 10-minute play, Blind Date - was a finalist in The Oxford 10-Minute Play Competition. Her stage adaptations include Mark Twain's Diaries of Adam and Eve (based on Twains 2 books on the topic), and Arms and the Highlander (a Colonial American adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man).
She wrote the book adaptation for the musical A Musical Little Women and based the book for the musical Once Upon A Christmas Carol on the book adaptation by Dolly Stevens. Once Upon A Christmas Carol features original music by composer Diane El-Shafey and Accompanist Carma Jones Denney. McMath's Romance from Broadway to Lincoln Center weaves together the script of a romantic comedy with royalty-free music from Broadway musicals and operas, and her musical living history production, Meet the Caldwells was commissioned by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and performed at the Hall of Musical of Instruments. |
AUTHOR McMath's historic fiction novels are known for strong female characters, creative plots and humor, and fascinating historic detail. 
Her non-fiction works include the true story of Lida and Lizzie Dutton and Sarah Steer: Three Women Journalists of the Civil War (The Waterford Foundation), the co-written book on the Legacy of Lincoln (published in The Complete Idiot's Guide series), and her piece on freed slave Zilpha Davis, for which she was given the Loudoun County Black History Award (Essence of a People II).
McMath’s freelance articles have appeared in The Washington Post Loudoun Extra, Loudoun Magazine, The Piedmont Virginian, Loudoun Times-Mirror, Middleburg Life, Loudoun Art Magazine and Leesburg Lifestyle Magazine. Her StoryRoot Blog explores everything from history and writing to love and theatre. |
Images from McMath's original works and adaptations
"Conversing with Meredith Bean McMath is like flying on a magic carpet over the performance stages of beautiful theaters throughout the world… Creativity abounds."
- Nancy Wyatt of My Persuasive Presentations
- Nancy Wyatt of My Persuasive Presentations
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"Meredith Bean McMath flourishes at a time when only one in five U.S. plays have a female playwright."
- Diane Helentjaris, Survival Secrets of a Southern Woman Playwright
"Meredith Bean McMath flourishes at a time when only one in five U.S. plays have a female playwright."
- Diane Helentjaris, Survival Secrets of a Southern Woman Playwright
SPEAKER
McMath gives talks and teaches on the subject of writing, acting and theatre production, and Civil War and women's history.
SEE LIST OF McMATH TALKS
McMath’s most recent program, August 7, 2021, was an overview of General George C. Marshall’s wife, Katherine, during her days as a professional Shakespearean actor. McMath gave the talk at the Marshall’s former home in Leesburg, Virginia (at left). Actor Victoria Sova gave Shakespearean monologues Katherine once performed on the English stage (Photo courtesy of the George C. Marshall International Center).
THEATRE DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER
Since the founding of her former company, Run Rabbit Run Productions, Inc. in 1998, McMath focused on producing professional level entertainment, and as a result, "McMath, an award-winning historian and prize-winning playwright… garnered a reputation for producing high-quality theater in the area." - Ann Keisman, Loudoun Times-Mirror. Run Rabbit Run Productions closed its doors in 2019, and McMath is currently focused on small productions, writing, giving talks and arranging Royalty Rights for her stage works.
Since the founding of her former company, Run Rabbit Run Productions, Inc. in 1998, McMath focused on producing professional level entertainment, and as a result, "McMath, an award-winning historian and prize-winning playwright… garnered a reputation for producing high-quality theater in the area." - Ann Keisman, Loudoun Times-Mirror. Run Rabbit Run Productions closed its doors in 2019, and McMath is currently focused on small productions, writing, giving talks and arranging Royalty Rights for her stage works.
Didn't get much better than THE 39 STEPS in 2013, with 4 actors - Tom Johnson, Kevin Kaly, Penny Hauffe and Phil Erickson - playing over 100 roles, and the crew kicking in now and then, as well (That's Kaitlyn DeLitta as a flock of sheep)
DOCUMENTARY & HISTORY PROGRAM PRODUCER
As an historian, writer, director and co-producer of history documentaries and public programs, McMath's programs have been commissioned by museums and preservation organizations which include The National Museum of American History, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, The Waterford Foundation, the Lincoln Preservation Foundation and the George C. Marshall International Center of Leesburg, Virginia.
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The images above are from the documentary SOUTHERN COURAGE, CIVIL WAR WOMEN OF LOUDOUN COUNTY, VIRGINIA. Written and directed by McMath and filmed by Joni Lynn Crane, SOUTHERN COURAGE is a collection of first-person narratives from all sides of the conflict taken directly or based upon diaries, letters and other documents.
LEARN HOW & WHY THE FILM WAS MADE * SEE THE 45-MINUTE DOCUMENTARY (YouTube)
LEARN HOW & WHY THE FILM WAS MADE * SEE THE 45-MINUTE DOCUMENTARY (YouTube)
NON-PROFIT SERVICE
McMath has previously served as a Board Member and Marketing Director for The Loudoun Lyric Opera Company, Arts for All - Loudoun, The Round Hill Arts Center, and The Loudoun Museum. Other Board service has included nonprofit arts organizations and theatre companies. She currently manages the Arts for All - Loudoun website.
HISTORY & COMMUNITY HONORS
McMath’s focus has been on women’s history, and for that she’s received honors which include a Loudoun County League of Women Voters Award for Advancing the Knowledge of Women's History, inclusion in a “Women with Vision” Exhibit at Franklin Park Arts Center, Purcellville, VA, a listing in the Marquis "2006-2007 Who's Who of American Women", and a League of Women Voters of Loudoun Award for “Advancing the awareness of women’s history”. Community service has led to other recognition, and while attending The College of William and Member she was a Member Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society. Complete list can be found in her resume.
MEREDITH McMATH'S STORYROOT BLOG
On Theatre
- Making Romance - Creating "Romance from Broadway to Lincoln Center"
- Starting a Director Career at 5
- From Documentaries to Theatre Companies
- Art vs Control
- How to Catch a Christmas Spirit
- If "All the World's a Stage", Theatre is the Best of All Worlds
- Theatre Asks Important Questions... and Tries to Answer Them
- Bringing Out an Actor's Best
- Casting About: How to Enjoy an Audition
- Professional Audition Technique
- Holly-what?
- What Would Mark Twain Do? Advice to Actors from Mark Twain
- Ten Things to Know Before Taking A Shakespeare Acting Class Taught by a Very Important Instructor Who Has Worked with the Globe Theatre ForLordsSake
EDUCATION
MS Arts Management, Shenandoah University, 2011
Concentration: Arts Marketing, Recipient 2011 Arts Administration Graduate Student Award
Thesis: “Relationship between Successes and Failures of the Federal Theatre Project and its management by Director Hallie Flanagan”
BA History, The College of William and Mary, 1979
Member Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Secondary Teaching Certificate (High School) in Social Studies
Complete Resume
MS Arts Management, Shenandoah University, 2011
Concentration: Arts Marketing, Recipient 2011 Arts Administration Graduate Student Award
Thesis: “Relationship between Successes and Failures of the Federal Theatre Project and its management by Director Hallie Flanagan”
BA History, The College of William and Mary, 1979
Member Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Secondary Teaching Certificate (High School) in Social Studies
Complete Resume
PHOTOS FROM McMATH'S
ORIGINAL STAGE WORKS AND ADAPTATIONS