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Heidi Schreck Discusses the Timeliness of WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME, Her Personal History and More
Schreck shared, 'Making the show has certainly given me a new way to look at the document.'
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Oct. 16, 2020
A filmed version of What the Constitution Means to Me, created by and starring Heidi Schreck, is premiering today, Oct. 16, 2020, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Schreck recently spoke with Variety about how the play reflects current events in our country, her personal history and how it relates to the play, and more.
Read the full story HERE.
"It was never written to be topical; it really was this personal exploration of the document. But the things that are happening right now are the results of things that were planted really 400 years ago," Schreck shared. "Because of that, it always seems to interact with whatever's happening in the country. And I think that's just because the problems we're facing right now and the nationwide reckoning we're having with the sins of our past is a long-term conversation. The play is a long-form conversation, too. It wasn't written for this moment, but different sections of the play become more important at different times, or more vivid at different times."
On how the play came to be, Schreck stated:
"My family story was a jumping off point to look at the ways the equal protection clause has both been used by people to create important change and the ways in which, even though it says explicitly that it guarantees equal protection under the law to everyone, that fails to be true. I talk about the ways the people who interpreted that amendment failed my family, but that's a way to talk about the grander failure as I see it,"
Schreck also shared what she hopes people will take away from the play:
"I just want to get them talking in general. The purpose of the 'keep or abolish' debate is first to provoke discussion and also to encourage us to imagine the future - to consider reimagining some of the systems that aren't working. I DON'T personally think it's practical to abolish the constitution, but the idea is to do a little exercise and imagine if we got to be the people who invented America, what would we do?"
Read the full story HERE.
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