ADAPTATIONS

   
     
 

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Inspired by Trevor Nunn's simple yet powerful version of Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby, this adaptation of Midsummer  floats in imagination with a set created by the actors themselves.  In the opening scene Queen Titania and her playful fairy brood will turn into the statuary in the Duke's palace.  When the lovers are lost in the woods, the royal household and woodland fairies become the Athenian Wood in which the lovers and rustics romp.  The woods are literally alive, tripping up the lovers at every turn and eventually helping to keep jealous Demetrius and Lysander from killing each other. Excellent version for student productions, as the cast is constantly engaged.

Cast: 21
Length: 1.5 hours

For a free copy of the script, please email Meredith Bean McMath

(there are no royalties associated with this adaptation)

 
     
     
     
 

Alcott's LITTLE WOMEN


Set during America's Civil War, the four March girls of Concord, Massachusetts, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, struggle with life and death and growing up, turning from "little women" to young women of courage.

Jo and Laurie (Mary Triplett and Christian Amonson)

The story's engine, Josephine March, detests all things sentimental and wishes she could keep things just as they are - but life intervenes, and, sometimes despite herself, Jo grows up to become a writer. The charm, humor and honesty of Louisa May Alcott's characters capture the blessings and the pitfalls of "girlhood."

"In her adaptation, McMath captures the two most important dramatic elements in Alcott's tale of the struggling Civil War-era March family: the power of familial love and the dynamism of the March sisters' intelligence and humor... With tight, well-timed scenes, McMath's retelling of the young women's struggle with the complexities of love and war keeps the audience alert and involved, letting Alcott's wit permeate the production."— Ann Keisman, Loudoun Times Mirror Review

 

Premiered: 2004, produced by Aurora Studio Theatre, Old Stone School Theatre, Hillsboro, VA.
Cast: 20
Length: 2 hours
View JIM POSTON PHOTOS
Read the Loudoun Times-Mirror REVIEW
Performance Rights: Meredith Bean McMath

Pictured at left: Marmee (Diane El-Shafey) surrounded by her daughters, clockwise from left: Amy (Mandy Juraschek), Jo (Mary Triplett), Beth (Cate Oliver) and Meg (Jenny Sugden) - Photo by Jim Poston, Middleburg

     
     
     
 

ARMS & THE HIGHLANDER: A Revolutionary Love Story


A Colonial American adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man set in 1781 just after The Battle of Yorktown, the most decisive battle of the American Revolution. A Highlander fighting as a mercentary for the British is on the run, pursued by Minute Men.  He climbs up the side of a house into an open window, only to discover he’s in the bedchamber of the redoubtable Miss Elizabeth Littlebone of the Yorktown Littlebones, a family so well-established they've been here twenty years.

Stephen Beggs as Captain Hays and Brittany Barrett as Miss Littlebone

She is the daughter of a Major in the Continental Army and an heir to the spirit of a new America. When the comedy of errors eventually leads to true love, Elizabeth’s fiancé is bound to take exception.


Premiered: 2006, produced by Aurora Studio Theatre, Old Stone School Theatre, Hillsboro, VA.
Cast: 8
Length: 1.5 hours
View JIM POSTON PHOTOS
Read the Purcellville Gazette REVIEW
Read the Blue Ridge Leader REVIEW

Performance Rights: Meredith Bean McMath
     
     
     
 

THE SEVERAL SECRETS OF WILL MONROE


Commissioned and owned by The Gray Ghost Theatre Company of Manassas, Virginia, this is an adaptation of the Libbie Harrover Civil War novel of the same title. Find out more by contacting Gray Ghost Theatre Company. 

A note from M.B. McMath

I chose to sign on to the project of adapting Ms. Harrover's novel to the stage immediately after reading the book.  The story is based on a relative in her family, and, while most people might be tempted to clean up the history, Ms. Harrover brought complete honesty to the characters and the difficult choices they had to make during America’s Civil War.  Will Monroe is an all too real boy who wrestles with his conscience and finally learns to stand up for himself.  Ms. Harrover used excellent literary devices to illuminate the more complicated aspects of the war for young audiences. 

Audienceslike Will Monroe from the start – for his Tom Sawyer-like wit, schoolhouse friendships, and deep concern for family members as war looms. Will’s father is pro-Confederate, while his brother is pro-Union, and Will’s love for both of them causes him to struggle with his conscience. Caught in the middle, having your friends’ allegiances shift – these are all situations and feelings with which any young audience member can identify.  But there is plenty here for the adults, as well, and so this is as much a play for families as youths.

I’ve been proud to be a part of this project and have definitely added my own twists to character, storyline and the historical accuracy of events in order to make the story fit the stage.  Because of Ms. Harrover’s historical accuracy and Will’s honest and believable progression through difficulties, audiences will learn about the Civil War from a very personal perspective – one they are not likely to forget.

 


Dramatic Reading (pictured above): 2007, directed by Rick Davis, Artistic Director of Theatre of the First Amendment, George Mason University.
Cast: 20-24
Length: 1.5 hours
Performance Rights: Contact Ken Elston, Gray Ghost Theatre Co.