Run Rabbit Run Theatre Reviews and Awards

ALL FOR THE UNION

an original play written and directed by Meredith Bean McMath

Produced at the 2019 DC Capital Fringe Festival
and at Aldie Mill Historic Park, Aldie, Virginia

Washington, D.C. 2019

"You bring women's history and stories out of the shadows."
- Lee Lawrence

Once Upon

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Music by Diane El-Shafey, Accompaniment by Carma Jones,
Adaptation by Meredith Bean McMath
Directed by Meredith Bean McMath
Franklin Park Arts Center, Purcellville, VA

"BEST OF 2012"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MUSICAL:
Phil Erickson as Ebeneezer Scrooge

BEST DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL: Meredith Bean McMath

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Diane El-Shafey

Scrooge meets The Ghost of Christmas Past (Phil Erickson with Shawn Malone. Photo by Jim Poston).

Belle sings "Belle's Song", with Annie Stokes (Photo by Jim Poston)

"... McMath, who adapted the classic Dickens novel for the stage, and Diane El-Shafey, who wrote the production’s original score, have surrounded Scrooge with all the teeming life that fills London, or Loudoun, or anyplace with music — not just jingles that stick to the bottom of your shoe, but beautiful music that matters and makes sense."

"The play’s most poignant moment combines El-Shafey’s beautiful music with Annie Stokes’s beautiful voice and our own memories of the loves we’ve lost."
- Mark Dewey, DC METRO THEATER ARTS

READ THE WHOLE REVIEW

The Cratchit Family in song (L to R: Blake O'Brien as Peter, Tom Johnson as Mr. Cratchit, Archelle Skuce as Mrs. Cratchit, Eliza Stribling as Martha, Avery Knapp as Ellen, Zoe Skuce as Belinda and Josh Derrow as Joshua (Photo by Jim Poston)

A Musical LITTLE WOMEN

Music by Diane El-Shafey, Accompaniment by Carma Jones,
Adaptation by Meredith Bean McMath
Directed by Meredith Bean McMath
Franklin Park Arts Center, Purcellville, VA, 2013

As in Louisa May Alcott's book, the opening scene begins with Josephine March having her sisters act out her stories. But in the opening song, "She's a Regular Shakespeare!", Jo's stories come to life (Annamaria Kendrat as Jo, Amanda Barr as Amy, Maryann Hayden as Meg and Lily Olson as Beth. Photo by Jim Poston.

In "She's a Regular Shakespeare!", the Good Fairies circle the wolf and turn him back into a Prince (Photo by Jim Poston)

"A Musical Little Women offers holiday charm... It brings people together around an inspiring communal endeavor that spreads good cheer all over town."
- Mark Dewey, Shenandoah Press

Jo meets Theodore Laurence. Annamaria Kendrat and Brody Brown (Photo by Jim Poston).

Grande Finale Song (Photo by Jim Poston)

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

ca. 1945

Directed and produced in 2018 by Meredith Bean McMath
Franklin Park Arts Center, Purcellville, VA

Read the LOUDOUN NOW Article

L to R: Heather Louisa Valdez as "Dawn" John, Jack Mourad as Borachio and Elena Mourad as Conrade. Photo by CRAIG THOBURN.

L to R: Victoria Sova as Hero, David Pesta as Don Pedro, Drew VanDyke as Claudio, and Brandon Cheltenham as Victor Allen (Photo by CRAIG THOBURN).

Benedick and Beatrice (Ryan Bultrowicz and Rachel Louis). Photo by CRAIG THOBURN.

THE IMPORTANCE
of
BEING EARNEST

Directed and produced in 2011 by Meredith Bean McMath
Grandale Farm Restaurant Dinner Theatre, Neersville, Virginia

CRITIC'S CHOICE
Run Rabbit Run Dinner Theatre's
The Importance of Being Earnest"

BEST ACTING: FULL CAST

"Run Rabbit Run Theatre's production of Oscar Wilde's period comedy... has achieved a level of excellence not often seen on the dinner theatre circuit...

"From casting to staging to wardrobe, the show exudes meticulous attention to detail that results in an evening of marvelous entertainment."

- Beverly Ford, ALL ARTS REVIEW, 2011

L to R: Garrett Milich as Jack Worthing, J.P., Maddy Vencil as Gwendolen, Diane El-Shafey as Lady Bracknell, Suzy Alden as Cecily and Christopher Saunders as Algernon
(Photos by Tom Johnson)

ARMS & THE HIGHLANDER

Adapted from George Bernard Shaw's ARMS AND THE MAN by Meredith Bean McMath

Directed and produced by Meredith Bean McMath
Carver CenterTheatre, Purcellville, Virginia, 2018

Brie Reed as Elizabeth Littlebone and Christopher Saunders as Captain Gabriel Hay (Photo by Jim Poston)

L to R: Ben Huntington as Henry James Clodfelter, Christopher Saunders as Capt. Hay, Ernie Carnevale as Major Littlebone, Doug Dickinson as John, the Servant, Brie Reed as Elizabeth Littlebone and Penny Hauffe as Catherine Littlebone (Photo by Jim Poston)

THE 39 STEPS

Directed by Meredith Bean McMath with Garrett Milich, Technical DirectorFranklin Park Arts Center, Purcellville, 2013

L to R: Kaitlyn de Litta as a flock of sheep, Tom Johnson and Kevin Daly as spies, Penny Hauffe as Margaret and Phil Erickson as Richard Hannay (Photo by Jim Poston)

"...four actors run through 33 scenes playing 139 roles in about 100 minutes. Actually, the actor Phil Erickson plays only the role of Richard Hannay, and Penny Hauffe plays only the three women who become pseudo-romantically involved with him, so that leaves something like 135 roles for Kevin Daly and Tom Johnson, who are identified in the program only as Clown one and Clown two.

"Those two men are sometimes called upon to switch identities — and accents, and genders — from one line to the next by switching hats or walking in a circle around another character or putting their heads through an imaginary window, all of which happens repeatedly, right before our eyes, at speeds that smack of the aerobic exercises hired trainers make us do."

- Mark Dewey, DC Metro Theater Arts, 2013

Richard Hannay (Phil) and the Farmer's Wife (Penny). Photo by Jim Poston.

Penny as Margaret and Kevin Daly as a Policeman (Photo by Jim Poston)

Phil Erickson as Richard Hannay and Penny Hauffe as Annabella

At left: Phil Erickson as Richard Hannay and Kevin Daly as a double-crossing spy

PYGMALION

Directed by Meredith Bean McMath
Grandale Farm Restaurant Dinner Theatre, 2013

Penny Hauffe as Eliza Doolittle, Craig Snyder as Col. Pickering and Phil Erickson as Professor Henry Higgins (Photo by Jim Poston)

"PYGMALION was full 'of chocolates and taxis and gold and diamonds!'...

"The cast presented a feast of Shavian wit and a social statement that is applicable nearly a centery after its premiere. Bloody good show, Run Rabbit Run!"

- Patron Review by Matthew Gallelli

L to R: Amy Blair as Clara Eynsford-Hill, Sue Derrow as Mrs. Eynsford-Hill, Penny Hauffe as Eliza Doolittle, Garrett Milich as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, Karlah Louis as Mrs. Higgins and Craig Snyder as Col. Pickering (Photo by Jim Poston)

CASE 22

an original play written and directed by Meredith Bean McMath

Produced at the 2010 Capital Fringe Festival, Washington, DC

L to R: Dolly Lloyd as Phone Girl, Laura Stroup as Social Services Operator, Blair Russell as Social Services Representative (All are also portraying actors in a film)

Nancy Purcell as Claire / Women's Shelter Director, Diane El-Shafey as Social Worker, Kevin Daly as Judge, Lori Daly as Girl's Mother and Laura Stroup as Social Services Operator (All are also portraying actors in a film)

"In a pivotal scene in the second half of Case 22, a judge tasked with assessing a case of alleged child abuse engages in careful deliberation, reaches a verdict, assembles the courtroom, raises his gavel and – sorry, scratch that....."

"Actually, after exhibiting zero signs of deliberative exertion, the judge raises a hammer and proceeds to wield it with the veritable absence of subtlety that its actual function implies. It’s a wickedly clever flourish that speaks to the pitch-black comedic sensibility of Case 22, a play that seamlessly operates on multiple levels of meaning and structure even as its central theme, the decidedly unfunny subject of child abuse, remains undiminished by the attendant shenanigans.

"Are they performing, or is it the real thing? CASE 22 delights in the disarray of its dual plot lines, which serve to emphasize the concurrence of the actors' predicament with the travails of their script's protagonist...

"In this context CASE 22, which packs a wallop of an ending, adroitly portrays the grim theatricality of a government agency that, despite its grave responsibilities, persists in the apparent absence of a director."

- Tzvi Kahn, DC THEATRE SCENE REVIEW - READ THE FULL REVIEW

Kevin Daly as Judge with Morgan El-Shafey as Girl (Both also portraying actors in a film)