By Sam Holcroft
Directed by Ryan Rilette
December 3, 2025–January 4, 2026 | U.S. Premiere

A “raucous, unbridled” (The Guardian) hit at London’s National Theatre, Rules for Living has its American premiere at Round House this holiday season! The holidays are all about family, but what happens when long-standing tensions, buried resentments, and hilariously disastrous coping mechanisms collide at Christmas dinner? In this inventive, high-energy comedy, the internal rules that the characters live by become visible, turning every awkward pause, biting remark, and outburst into a brilliantly choreographed meltdown. Wickedly funny and all too relatable, this is one family holiday gathering you won’t want to miss.

Thank you to our sponsors:

The 2025-2026 Season is sponsored by Linda J. Ravdin & Don Shapero and David & Sherry Smith.

Rules for Living is sponsored by Mitch & Heidi Dupler and Susan & Tim Gibson.

CAST

UNDERSTUDIES

Ari Benjamin Post

Matthew/Adam Understudy

Ari Benjamin Post (Matthew/Adam Understudy) is thrilled to make his Round House Theatre debut with Rules for Living. DC credits include The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, and The Rover at Shakespeare Theatre Company; Electionland at Storyworks Theater; and The Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Odyssey at Shakespeare Theatre Company (MFA). Other credits include Now to Ashes at the DC Fringe Festival (Best of Fringe); and Venus in Fur, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and Side Man at local area theaters. Upcoming credits include Appropriate at Olney Theatre Center and Once at NextStop Theatre Company. Training: MFA in Acting, Shakespeare Theatre Company at George Washington University.

Amy Benson

Carrie/Nicole Understudy

Amy Benson (Carrie/Nicole Understudy) is thrilled to be understudying at Round House Theatre once again! Amy is Round House's Artistic and Executive Associate and was the Assistant to Director Alan Paul on Round House's production of Next to Normal and understudied the incomparable Kimberly Gilbert in What the Constitution Means to Me. She also is the Festival Producer for the workshops during the Bonnie Hammerschlag National Capital New Play Festival. She was the Founding Artistic Director of Walking Shadow Readers Theatre, a new play development company. She has directed for Best Medicine Rep, Too Much Damn Theater, and the Philadelphia Dramatists Center. Amy also has extensive teaching experience as a teaching artist at Imagination Stage, Adventure Theatre, and Epworth Preschool. She has taught in Beijing, China, and Berlin, Germany, where she founded her own acting studio, Amy Benson Studios. Amy has a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Instagram: @amybensonacts

Vince Rossano

Francis Understudy

Vince Rossano (Francis Understudy) is back for his second understudy gig at Round House. He is a recent arrival in the DMV area having spent most of his nearly-sixty-year theatrical career performing in regional theater in his home state of Vermont. In the past few years, he has appeared in Much Ado About Nothing, The Seagull, and The Father at Unadilla Theater; Taming of the Shrew at the Vermont Shakespeare Festival; Native Gardens and A Number at Vermont Stage; and To Kill a Mockingbird and Kiss Me Kate at The Mirror Repertory Theater. He and his wife have also toured the Eastern Seaboard with their production of A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters. He has a degree in theatre from the University of Vermont and also studied theater at Goddard College.

Mara Rosenberg

Deborah Understudy

Mara Rosenberg (Deborah Understudy) is delighted to return to Round Hourse Theatre where she understudied the role of Nan in Jennifer Who is Leaving. Since relocating to the DMV from Charlotte, NC, Mara has been seen Circle Mirror Transformation (Silver Spring Stage); Picnic and The American Plan (NOVA Nightsky Theater); A Daughter's a Daughter (Greenbelt Arts Center), and Wednesdays in Mississippi (Pipeline Playwrights). Mara spends her days making silly voices as a school librarian.

RULES FOR LIVING

CAST

UNDERSTUDIES

CREATIVE TEAM

MEDIA

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