Review Roundup: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME National Tour

The national tour of What the Constitution Means To Me, Heidi Schreck's Tony Award-nominated Pulitzer Prize finalist play, directed by Oliver Butler, relaunched this fall at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, MN on September 30, 2021, starring Cassie Beck in the leading role.

Beck assumes the role from Maria Dizzia, who performed engagements of the play in Los Angeles and Chicago, prior to the shutdown of the touring Broadway industry in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Playwright Heidi Schreck's boundary-breaking play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans. Fifteen year old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human new play, she resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.

Let's see what the critics are saying...

Guthrie Theatre - Minneapolis, MN

Megan Siemieniak, BroadwayWorld: Cassie Beck is absolutely captivating in the role of Heidi Schreck. Her humor is endearing, and her storytelling is impeccable; she seamlessly takes on the role of Heidi, making each of Heidi's seem like they're her own. Mike Iveson, a member of the original Broadway cast, stuns with the role of the Legionnaire and his experiences of toxic masculinity.

Chris Hewitt, Star Tribune: Schreck's play helps us understand what was going on in that courtroom, which is just one sign of "Constitution's" generosity. It never feels like a pity party because Schreck pivots from her own story to compassion for others, including the Indigenous and Black trans women whose rights the Founding Fathers didn't care about and that, the play argues, subsequent laws ignore.

Broadway Playhouse - Chicago, IL

Patrick Rybarczyk, BroadwayWorld: Playwright Heidi Schreck details her own journey through constitutional debates where she earned scholarship money for college. Cassie Beck skillfully steps into Schreck's shoes to tell her story about the impact of these debates but also what she learned about the constitution and its relevance to her own life.

Catey Sullivan, Chicago Sun Times: Directed by Oliver Butler, and set within the confines of an American Legion Hall, the fourth-wall-demolishing, autobiographical play stars Cassie Beck as Schreck. She has the audience in hand from the start, when she asks all male property owners to raise their hands. Everybody else in the theater? Sorry, the Founders said you don't count, we're told. At least not as much, Beck-as-Schreck explains before explicating a roster of historical judicial decisions proving the statement, starting with the Dred Scott decision and continuing to present day.

The Fourth Walsh: Under the skillful direction of Oliver Butler, Cassie Beck (Heidi) tethers us to the provocative storytelling. Until Beck breaks character and introduces her real identity, her stories, her words, her feelings all feel authentic and organic. She IS Heidi Schreck sharing spontaneous family stories. She is transfixing with her - I mean Heidi's- very personal reflections and reactions to laws that exclude the protection of women, immigrants, and people of color. She hits hard the irony of the original framers being affluent white men and the current majority of lawmakers still being affluent white men. Taped recordings of the all male Supreme Court Justices effectively emphasize the lunacy of constitution interpretation. (These judges have ruined the word 'shall' for me.)

Brian Hieggelke, New City Stage: Heidi, played with vigor in this production by Cassie Beck, is a fifteen-year-old student debating the Constitution in hopes of an American Legion scholarship. It's as fusty as my high school memory of that age, and portends a night in the theater out of step with our times. But she quickly steps into the present, and delivers a powerful, disturbing contemplation of the founding document's shortcomings, especially as it relates to women's rights and their lack thereof through most of our nation's history, complete with recorded sound effects courtesy of the United States Supreme Court.

McCarter Theatre - Princeton, NJ

Cameron Kelsall, Broad Street Review: It's easy to see why this treatise has resonated with so many audiences. For all the paeans to the supposed impartiality of justice, every human being understands that our connection to the law is deeply personal and constantly shifting. So, too, are the interpretations that decree how far a certain right extends, or where it ends altogether. Schreck describes the Constitution as a "living document," and we're constantly reminded of that fact-for better or worse.

Donald H. Sanborn III, Town Topics: Schreck performed as herself in previous productions; Cassie Beck portrays her in the tour. With marked changes in vocal inflections and body language, Beck successfully depicts the progression from optimistic teenager to disillusioned adult.

Fisher Theatre - Detroit, MI

Ronelle Grier, Detroit Jewish News: For those who may be intimidated by the subject matter, one does not have to be a lawyer or U.S. history buff to understand and appreciate the content. While Schreck may know every detail of the Constitution and its amendments, her goal is to demonstrate how this document affects the people it was designed to protect.

Winspear Opera House - Dallas, TX

Dallas Voice: As entertaining as anything was an actual clip of the case allowing women the right to use birth control argued by a male attorney being questioned by male justices. Lots of coughing and choking replaced words like vagina. To top it off, Heidi explains what actually was behind the legalization of birth control - at least four of the nine married justices were having affairs with much younger women.

Bushnell Center - Hartford, CT

Bonnie Goldberg, The Middletown Press: Come relearn what it means to be an American as the playwright relates tales of her own family and significant legal cases in our history. She does not hesitate to reveal the domestic abuse her own mother and grandmother suffered. She also raises the question of whether or not the Constitution protects all its citizens and whether it should be abolished and replaced.

Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant: A lot of what's been written about "What the Constitution Means to Me" understandably concentrates on its content: Schreck's reminiscences of being a touring teen debate champion, which morph into adult concerns about abortion rights and the role of government. But those who've experienced any of Schreck's other theatrical works will recognize how she loves to deconstruct styles and formats, find new perspectives and angles, undermine reality by breaking theater's fourth wall and otherwise keep audiences guessing.

Blumenthal Performing Arts Center: Knight Theater - Charlotte, NC

Perry Tannenbaum, Queen City Nerve: As the playwright, Schreck can playfully mock her younger self, or interrupt her and point out her quirks. Sharper still, she can not only take a more feminist view of the Constitution, she can flout the authority of the American Legionnaire who emcees young Heidi's performance, strictly timekeeping her every utterance and quizzing her on the 14th Amendment.

Emerson Colonial Theatre - Boston, MA

Jacquinn Sinclair, WBUR: This contest is the basis of playwright Heidi Schreck's popular play "What the Constitution Means to Me," which the Huntington Theatre Company has brought to the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre through March 20. The touring production, under Oliver Butler's direction, is an emotional journey filled with first-hand stories of multi-generational trauma and triumph along with details of landmark court cases that show how the "living document" impacted her family and how it affects all of us today.

Maura Johnston, The Boston Globe: "What the Constitution Means to Me," which began its run at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre on Tuesday night, opens in an unassuming way: A playlist of '90s riot grrrl and modern pop fades out, and a woman, clad in an eye-popping yellow blazer, strides into the American Legion Hall that's been re-created onstage, introducing herself - "Hi, I'm Heidi" - and thanking the audience for coming.

Tennessee Performing Arts Center - Nashville, TN

Jeffrey Ellis, BroadwayWorld: If it were at all possible - say, if I were rich or something akin to being rich - I would buy huge blocks of tickets to Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me so that everyone could see it and be as affected by it as I was. For to be quite honest, What the Constitution Means to Me is one of the best theatrical experiences of my career and one of the most edifying experiences of my entire life.

Belmont Vision: When Beck stepped out on stage, donning a vibrant, yellow blazer to take on the role of Schreck, she immediately shattered the fourth wall and directly addressed the audience. The tactic created an intimacy that made this true story feel all the more real - and added a dose of comedic relief.