Timely theater has not been in short supply this year. The term “constitutional crisis” has been thrown around casually and frequently during the tumultuous reign of the Trump administration. Are we at that stage or, as some might argue, have we been for the last two years? Is Washington just incredibly mucked up like a company in need of a strategic vision, a refreshed mission statement, a competent leader, more talented managers, less self-dealing or all of that? More than a few believe the current Republican leadership is pointing America in the right direction. Throw all those sentences out onto the internet and watch the vitriol boil. Amidst this political maelstrom, What the Constitution Means to Me is another play ready for our attention now.
When she was young, playwright Heidi Schreck raised money for college by entering competitions about the constitution in places such as American Legion Halls. She was good at it and successfully paid for her entire state school tuition. Ten years ago she was inspired to revisit her teenage encounters with the Constitution in a performance setting. Excerpts of this piece showed up in our great artist incubator spaces, resulting in this finished play.
Ms. Schreck plays herself in her forties looking back and imagining her fifteen year old self. She’s the one obsessed with Patrick Swayze and the witches in Salem. The acting style is loose and free, filled with smiles and jokes. Oliver Butler directed this play and you would hardly know there was direction. Storytelling this effortlessly assured and accomplished could not have happened without a creative team’s singular vision. All this lightness cleverly masks a serious debate about this particular document which has obviously been significant to her life.
This play is structured from a very personal perspective, centering around the stories of the female generations of her family who came before her. Did and does this document effectively provide all citizens their unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Or have centuries of rule by white men, notably on the Supreme Court, purposely thwarted those rights by adhering to a document written when white men were the only American citizens who really mattered?
Amendment 9, the Dred Scott case and Castle Rock vs. Gonzales are some of the historical milestones that Ms. Schreck takes us through on her journey. Since this is a reflection and not a civics class, the darkness under the surface of her feelings linger and have real impact. Near the end of this play, a young African American girl (Thursday Williams, excellent and just as assured) joins her on the stage. The two debate whether the Constitution should be kept in its current state with incremental improvements made (as the amendments allow) or completely abolished and rewritten. This section was icing on a very delicious, substantial and filling piece of cake.
Term limits did not come up in this context but I’d certainly be in favor of a discussion on that topic, including for the Justices on the Supreme Court. An extraordinarily high level and variety of playwrighting seems to be emerging from our political chaos. I guess that’s the good news.