PLAYS by Meredith Bean McMath
ARMS and the HIGHLANDER
Produced by Aurora
Studio Theatre, Inc.
November 10-26, Hillsboro's Old Stone School Theatre,
Hillsboro, Virginia
Two-act original adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man. The romantic farce in which a mercenary soldier meets love has been re-cast in Colonial America, where a new world is just over the horizon.
October 1781: an exhausted soldier flees for his life through the streets of Yorktown, Virginia when he sees his means of escape: an open upper window. The window belongs to the fair Elizabeth Littlebone - daughter of Major Littlebone, away fighting for American independence. The fleeing soldier is a mercentary - a Scot, fighting for the British. When man meets lass, he meets a formidable foe indeed. Eventually the girl takes pity on his situation and helps him escape. Trouble is, her heart has gone with him.
In the second act, with the battle of Yorktown lost and Great Britain on the verge of signing a peace, our Scot (Captain Hay) returns to the Littlebone House to return the cloak that helped him escape. There he meets not only Elizabeth, but her father (the Major) and her fiance - and hero of the battle of Yorktown - Henry Clodfelter. The twists and turns of this delightful comedy keep the audience on the edge of their seats, but there's food for thought as well: anti-war sentiment and a skewering of upper class hypocrisy.
McMath adapated Shaw's piece to 18th century America for several reasons: the original period setting - the Servian War - is too distant for American audiences to relate to which removes some of the teeth from Shaw's biting wit. Next, Shaw's mercenary soldier was Swiss, and who knew the Swiss would become so peace loving? Lastly, Shaw had a lowly servant girl trying to win a place for herself in the upper classes (shades of 'Liza Doolittle). But what better way to serve Shaw's intent than to have the girl rightly boast of a new America in which class structure will no longer matter?
1 1/2 hour production: 3 women, 4 men. Two sets: a lady's bedchamber and a patio garden behind a Colonial home.
For performance rights, contact Meredith Bean McMath at meredith@storyroot.com
BILL, the BARD:
An EVENING of SHAKESPEAREAN ENTERTAINMENT
Narration by Meredith Bean McMath
A romp through the Best of the Bard of Avonlea, this play was first produced in February of 2001 by The Not Just Shakespeare Theatre Company of Loudoun County, Virginia. It begins with narration by a "frustrated actor," a fellow who's sure Shakespeare doesn't need help from the performers backstage - because he'd rather act out the material himself. His anti-actor tirade is interrupted when an actor waiting behind the curtain can take no more and bursts forth with the Chorus from Henry V: "OH, for a muse of FIRE!"
The various aspects of Shakespeare's works are then represented: pathos, comedy, history, love stories (and a sonnet), monologues, dialogues, and, as grand finale, the Rustic Play from A Midsummer Night's Dream, tied together by the narrator's explanatory remarks.
During the course of the show, the narrator has a change of heart as he slowly comes to respect the actors' craft. In the end, the actors show their appreciation for the narrator by allowing him the "last word," Puck's lines from A Midsummer Night's Dream beginning "If we shadows have offended..." And curtain.
Two hour production. Suggested set: Black Box. 6 men; 4 women.
Production History: 2001 - Not Just Shakespeare, Inc., Hillsboro, VA, Directed by Tim Jon.
For performance rights, contact Meredith Bean McMath at StoryRoot@aol.com
Blind Date
When an internet blind date goes from really bad to allow-me-to-crawl-under-the-table-and-die, you have a ten-minute comedy that tweaks our understanding of prejudice toward the physically challenged.
A woman arranges a blind date through the internet. When he meets her at the restaurant, she discovers he's actually blind (something he'd told her by e-mail on a day her e-mail was down). The audience is allowed to believe her discomfort is due to the discovery of his handicap. But when her date leaves and she tells the waiter she's ready to go, we discover the true difficulty: the waiter returns, rolling her wheelchair to the table. Too bad honesty wasn't on the menu.
One set: 10 minutes. Cast of 3: 2 women; 1 man, or 1 woman; 2 man.
For performance rights, contact Meredith Bean McMath at StoryRoot@aol.com
CASE 22
A one-act dramatic farce that asks whether there's any real hope for children suffering physical abuse in America and shines a glaring light on the deadly, gaping hole in the "safety net" of America's Child Protective Services.
Set as a play within a play, Case 22 follows a physically abused child's attempt to seek help within "The System" and begins as a play rehearsal - a play meant to illuminate the current crisis in child abuse and the holes in Social Service's safety net. The scenes quickly turn surreal as adult actors themselves begin to abuse the child actors, mirroring the case study they're attempting to portray. Toward the end, a new actress is brought on - a teenager.
Her response to her character's hopeless situation is to begin cutting herself. Now the actors can't decide if she's really hurting herselfor just trying to grandstand. Weak from loss of blood, the teenager finally falls to the stage. As the actors quit in disgust, the the girl struggles to raise her head and ask, "So, did I get the part?"
Black Box. 30 minutes. Cast of 9: 5 women, 2 girls (12-14), 2 men.
For performance rights, contact Meredith Bean McMath at StoryRoot@aol.com
The
Drinking Gourd: Songs
and Stories of the Underground Railroad
Written to be performed by 4th through 6th grade Elementary School students, this 40-minute play is narrated by "Peg Leg Joe," an itenerant carpenter who travelled throughout the south teaching slaves the words and meaning to the song "Follow the Drinking Gourd" (the "road map" song of the Underground Railroad). Peg Leg Joe's gentle humor keeps the audience spell-bound as he leads them through a "time-traveling" overview of the Underground Railroad. In short order, Joe introduces us to well-known heroes of the Underground Railroad - Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Dr. Alexander Milton Ross - and lesser known heroes - runaway slave who tell their own stories of courage and hardship.
Ideal for large group participation, everyone has a chance to sing and act (various scenes are played out behind the characters, such as a field of workers watched by plantation overseers). The six songs woven into the piece are "Follow the Drinking Gourd," "Wade in the Water," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel," "The Little Black Train," and "Good News." The play provides room for choreographed dance during the songs, and the music for all six is readily available online.
The Drinking Gourd was commissioned by Loudoun County Public Schools to be performed at Lucketts and Hillsboro Elementary in 2003 in honor of Black History Month.
No set or props required. Costumes Optional. 40 minutes. 18 speaking parts; six songs; group scenes acted out by all participants.
For performance rights, contact Meredith Bean McMath at StoryRoot@aol.com
Fly The Pig
The ten-minute comedy that asks the question, "So how come real history never makes it to the silver screen?"
When a writer who loves history tries to hook a producer on a true Civil War tale, she discovers the fatal flaw in the system. Based on a true story.
One set: 10 minutes. Two women.
For performance rights, contact Meredith Bean McMath at StoryRoot@aol.com
PORCHES - an American Musical
Story and Music by Tom Sweitzer; Book by Meredith Bean McMath
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A character-driven dramatic musical set in the railroad town of Altoona, PA during World War II - when the Pennsylvania Railroad was King. The year is 1942. Four homes lay alongside the railroad tracks. Widower Daniel Dunio, a Railroad Foreman struggling to raise two sons, lives in 901. In 902: Sharon Heinz, a woman with foster children whose husband is away at war. Divorcee Helen Tramonte lives with her daughter in 903; she's trying to discover whether she has the strength to raise her only child by herself. Last but by no means least, 904 holds two spinster sisters who used to work for the Railroad's front office. Miss Ethel is the self-appointed busy-body of the neighborhood, but the other sister is a gentle soul named Miss Violet. Violet appears to be in her dotage, but her odd ruminations and honest assessments can change her neighbors' lives. Through Violet's death they begin discover how much she'd taught them about life. PORCHES examines the choice we make between living life as a walking death or as a study in hope. The songs leads the story forward and deepen the strength of each character. Audiences relate deeply to PORCHES; response has been amazing. It was presented in 1999 to sold-out houses at Hill Playhouse in Middleburg, Virginia and at the Mishler Theatre in Altoona; every one of its fifteen performances received a standing ovation. |
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Two and one half hour production. One set (street scene with four porches). 14 performers (6 women, 3 girls, 2 men, 3 boys).
Performance History: 1998 - Hill Playhouse Theatre, Middleburg, VA, Directed by Tom Sweitzer; 1999 - Mishler Theatre, Altoona, PA, Directed by Tom Sweitzer; 1999 - Hill Playhouse Theatre, Middleburg, VA, Directed by Tom Sweitzer. 2005 - Mishler Theatre, Altoona, PA, directed by Tom Sweitzer. 2005 Hill Playhouse, Middleburg, VA, directed by Tom Sweitzer.
For performance rights, contact Meredith Bean McMath at StoryRoot@aol.com
Sticks & Stones
This ten-minute, two character play explores childhood sexual abuse. A brother in a Twelve Step for cocaine abuse needs to do his ninth step: make amends. In trying to apologize for sexual exploration in their youth, his sister explains it wasn't his fault but hers - that she let a boy do things to her years before, when she was only five. Her brother begins to question her memories of the event - it might not have been her fault at all...
FIRST PLACE WINNER in the Washington, D.C. Source Theatre August 2003 Ten-Minute Play Competition (Directed by Charles Upton).
L to R: actress Morgan El-Shafey (performed as Beth), writer Meredith Bean McMath, actor/director Tom Sweitzer (portrayed James), and show's director Charles Upton at the Source Theatre, Washington, D.C. August 8, 2003.
10 minutes; one man; one woman.
Production History: 2003 - Source Theatre Ten-Minute Play Competition, Washington, D.C., Directed by Charles Upton; 2003 - Univ. of North Carolina - Asheville "One Acts," Directed by Nate Juraschek.
Kate Yuhas as Beth, William Repoley as James in the University of North Carolina performance of "Sticks & Stones," December 2003
For performance rights, contact Meredith Bean McMath at StoryRoot@aol.com
The Die is Cast: The Cast Must Die
By Meredith Bean McMath
Two-Act Comedy. The Darnell's Theatre Company of 1826 is just trying to make a living. Trouble is, the actors keep dying.
Based on McMath's manuscript, Phoebe, The Die is Cast follows one bizarre evening in the life of an early American theatre troupe. Phoebe Whitestone, the quiet costumer and daughter of the troupe's famous diva - will discover the truth: the actors' dresser, VanHellon, is killing off anyone who performs Shakespeare badly. But she won't be able to prove it. Worse yet, the fellow she's fallen in love with, a set carpenter by the name of Walter Pike, is about to be sent in as Romeo... and Walter is no actor.
Set: The play takes place behind the scenes as Darnell's tries to produce "Select Sceenes from Romeo & Juliet," so the stage is actually reversed, i.e., the upstage wall holds a curtain through which the audience is found.
Minimal set: 1 1/2 hours long. 7 men; 8 women.
the foot
by Meredith Bean McMath
Ten-minute farce. On a bright morning in 1862, a Winchester, Virginia woman walks out to her garden and finds a boot - with the owner's foot still inside. A fella' died when the Union Army blew up the depot the night before, and this foot'll have to be buried. But here's the rub: is it Confederate, Yankee or slave?
Black Box Set: 30 minutes: 2 women; 2 men.