Review: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME Highlights Our Imperfect Union at B St. Theatre

Going into this election season is a perfect time to reflect upon what our country means to us. What are our values and how have we changed over the past four years? Our democracy has been, in the past, a utopian ideal that was modeled by others. More recently, it seems that we are the ones catching up as countries adopt new constitutions or reform old ones. Can we agree on the changes needed to update a centuries-old document? That’s the idea at the crux of Heidi Schreck’s Tony-nominated play, What the Constitution Means to Me, which is playing now at the B St. Theatre.

What I really enjoyed was the originality of this piece. The playwright earned money for her college tuition by competing in Constitutional debates throughout high school in various American Legion venues across the country. As a fifteen-year-old, she was hesitant to explore what the Constitution meant to her personally. In What the Constitution Means to Me, Schreck looks back on her experiences with the insight of an adult and how it affected her family’s American journey. She also ties it into her reality as a woman now, effectively blending humor with the stark realities of the document’s shortcomings.

Elisabeth Nunziato plays Heidi, effectively deconstructing the 14th Amendment so that we are left with our mouths agape, nodding in agreement. She is accompanied by a hilarious Tim Stewart as the Legionnaire, the moderator of the debate. Schreck describes the Constitution as a living document, and this play is very much the same. Director Lyndsay Burch brings Schreck’s story to life in vibrant color, even in the drab confines of an American Legion hall. We’re walked through the language of the Amendment, “…No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States…” Yet, as Nunziato reminds us, it didn’t originally apply to women, people of color, or Native Americans. We made progress with the equal protection clause, which says that no state can deny equal protections of the law to anyone; however, Schreck’s personal experiences –and those of many women-- leave even that in question.

The highlight of the show comes at the end, when Nunziato debates local high school student Amari Thompson. Their topic is whether or not we should abolish the Constitution. Thompson is already an impressive debater and handily wins, by audience member choice, her argument that the Constitution should be kept and amended. It’s a treat to see Nunziato and Thompson trade quips and an education in the rules of debate. It’s a testament to both the wisdom and weaknesses of our founding fathers, who created a document that is as living, breathing, faulty, and malleable as the humans who made it and We the People who continue to live with it.

What the Constitution Means to Me plays at the B St. Theatre through November 10th. Tickets may be purchased online at BStreetTheatre.org, at the Box Office at 2700 Capitol Avenue, or by telephone at (916) 443-5300.

Photo credit: Rudy Meyers

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