McMath is an award-winning historian, author and playwright whose original dramatic and comic plays, operas and writings have received critical acclaim. The former Managing Director of Run Rabbit Run Productions, Inc. and the non-profit Aurora Studio Theatre, she holds a BA in History from The College of William and Mary and a Masters in Arts Administration from Shenandoah Conservatory. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Arts for All - Loudoun in Marketing and Website Management and gives talks and presentations on a wide range of topics.
FICTION / NON-FICTION AUTHOR
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PLAYWRIGHT
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 MUSICAL BOOK WRITER / OPERA LIBRETTEST
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THEATRE MANAGER / PRODUCER / DIRECTOR
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DOCUMENTARY & HISTORY PROGRAM WRITER / PRODUCER
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McMATH REVIEWS / AWARDS
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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 (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.
ARMS AND THE HIGHLANDER, McMath's adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's ARMS AND THE MAN
PLAYWRIGHT and LIBRETTIST
McMath has won 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 recently performed at the 2019 Capital Fringe Festival.
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.
McMath's stage adaptations include Mark Twain's Diaries of Adam and Eve (based on Twains books), and Arms and the Highlander (a Colonial American adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man).
In addition, McMath wrote the book adaptations for the critically acclaimed musicals Once Upon A Christmas Carol and A Musical Little Women (with original music by composer Diane El-Shafey and Accompanist Carma Jones). McMath's Romance from Broadway to Lincoln Center (below) weaves together the script of a romantic comedy with royalty-free music from Broadway musicals and operas, and her musical, Meet the Caldwells was commissioned by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
The Finale of McMath's ROMANCE FROM BROADWAY TO LINCOLN CENTER
"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
"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
- Nancy Wyatt of My Persuasive Presentations
"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’s most recent program, given on August 7, 2021, followed 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 assisted by actor Victoria Sova performing Shakespearean monologues Katherine once performed on the English stage (Photo courtesy of the George C. Marshall International Center).
LIST OF McMATH TALKS
THEATRE DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER
Since the founding of her company, Run Rabbit Run Productions Inc. in 1998, McMath focused on producing professional level entertainment. The result: "McMath, an award-winning historian and prize-winning playwright… has garnered a reputation for producing high-quality theater in the area." - Ann Keisman, Loudoun Times-Mirror. In 2022, Run Rabbit Run Productions will be folding its doors as McMath focuses arranging Royalty Rights for her creative works, alongside continuing to write books and plays.
Awards / Reviews
Loudoun Lyric Opera's THE MERRY WIDOW, directed by M. B. McMath
DOCUMENTARY & HISTORY PROGRAM PRODUCER
As an historian, writer, director and co-producer of history documentaries and public programs, McMath's works have appeared on the History Channel's History Showcase, and her 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.
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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 vebatim-style theatre - a collection of first-person narratives from all sides of the conflict taken directly from 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
Currently serving on the Board of Directors of Arts for All - Loudoun as website manager and Assistant Marketing Director, McMath has previously served as Board Member and Marketing Director for The Loudoun Lyric Opera Company, The Round Hill Arts Center, and The Loudoun Museum, and other Board of Director service includes numerous museums, nonprofit arts organizations and theatre companies.
McMATH'S ORIGINAL STAGE WORKS AND ADAPTATIONS
HONORS & AWARDS
- Loudoun History Award for "Significant Contribution to Loudoun History”, Thomas Balch History Library, Leesburg, Virginia
- League of Women Voters Award for Advancing the Knowledge of Women's History, Loudoun County, VA
- Shenandoah University Graduate Student Award, 2011
- College of William and Mary: Member Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, 1979
- “Women with Vision" honor, Franklin Park Arts Center, Purcellville, VA
- “Best of 2012 - Best DIrector of a Musical” DC Metro Theatre Arts for Once Upon A Christmas Carol - Book Adaptation by Meredith Bean McMath
- DC Metro Theatre Arts on ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Best Director of a Musical 2012
- "Must See" DC Theatre Scene: McMath's CASE 22, Capital Fringe Festival, 2010
- First Prize for McMath's play, Sticks and Stones, Source Theatre, Washington, D.C.
ARTICLES ABOUT McMATH
- A PEEK BACKSTAGE WITH PLAYWRIGHT AND COSTUMES MEREDITH BEAN McMATH by Diane Helentjaris, Medium.com 2021
- SURVIVAL SECRETS OF A SOUTHERN WOMAN PLAYWRIGHT by Diane Helentjaris, Medium.com 2019
- PLAYWRIGHT'S CIVIL WAR TALE RETOLD ON FILM, by Arianne Aryanpur for The Washington Post
- RUN RABBIT RUN THEATRE, by Nancy Wyatt, My Persuasive Presentations, LLC
- HERITAGE LECTURE PROGRAM on the NORTON OPERA presented by McMath, Chavez and Loudoun Lyric Opera, The Chautauquan Daily, 2014
ARTICLES BY McMATH
- ALL FOR THE UNION: THREE WOMEN RAN A PRO-UNION NEWSPAPER IN THE HEART OF THE CONFEDERACY DC Theatre Scene, June 2019
- LOUDOUN'S MILLS SHARE A HISTORY OF LOVE AND LOSS, City Lifestyle - Washington, July 2019
Photos by Amie Coxon Ware - "MAD MEN" MEET SHAKESPEARE, Loudoun Times-Mirror, Joe Motheral, August 2013
- IN TUNE WITH THE LOUDOUN LYRIC OPERA, Valley Homes and Style, spring 2010
- THREE WOMEN JOURNALISTS OF THE CIVIL WAR, Waterford Foundation Website (with bibliography)
- THE MOUSE IS DRY and Other Little Tales from the Country, first published in Loudoun Art Magazine, summer 1998
- McMATH'S STORYROOT BLOG
THEATRE WORK FROM EVERY ANGLE
YouTube Videos by Meredith Bean McMath with Run Rabbit Run Theatre
McMATH'S ACTING RESUME (Click Here)
ACTING
THE ACTING BUG AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
An Interview with Penny Hauffe and Phil Ercikson
CHARACTER PREPARATION
An Interview with Penny Hauffe
ACTORS' INSIGHT
An Interview with Penny Hauffe and Phil Erickson
HOW TO OWN YOUR CHARACTER
An Interview with Penny Hauffe and Phil Erickson
McMATH'S ORIGINAL WORKS AND ADAPTATIONS
10-MINUTE PLAY PREMIERE: THE COLLEGE OF HER CHOICE
ALL FOR THE UNION
- 2019: ALL FOR THE UNION, A True Story from Loudoun County, Virginia Civil War History (2019 Capital Fringe Festival and Aldie Mill, Aldie, Virginia)
- 2011: ALL FOR THE UNION (Hillsboro, Virginia)
THE ARMS AND THE HIGHLANDER
McMath's Adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's ARMS AND THE MAN
- THE ARMS AND THE HIGHLANDER CAST TALK ABOUT ACTOR'S PREPARATION
- THE ARMS AND THE HIGHLANDER TRAILER
MARK TWAIN'S ADAM and EVE DIARIES: OPENING MONOLOGUE: PHIL ERICKSON AS MARK TWAIN
THE NORTON: A CIVIL WAR OPERA TRAILER
ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS CAROL 2012
- BEHIND THE SCENES with Ten-Year old Dahlia Delicore
THE ROMANCE FROM BROADWAY TO LINCOLN CENTER TRAILER
SOUTHERN COURAGE: Civil War Women of Loudoun County, Virginia HISTORY DOCUMENTARY
THEATRE COSTUMING
- Costuming with Meredith Bean McMath
- The Proper Twirl of a Flapper Dress
INTROS & INTERVIEWS TO KNOWN PLAYS
EARNEST AT NORTH GATE WINERY, 2013
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Set in World War II
- MUCH ADO ABOUT... DON PEDRO AND DAWN JOHN
- MUCH ADO ABOUT... BENEDICK & BEATRICE (Interviews with the Actors)
- MUCH ADO ABOUT... HERO AND CLAUDIO (Interviews with the Actors)
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
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
MEREDITH McMATH'S STORYROOT BLOG
