At the Museum of Late Human Antiquities, the curators are fiercely committed to bringing a lost civilization to life again: What were humans really like? What did they wear, what did they eat, how did they die out? By casting us into the far future, Jordan Harrison’s new play gives us an uncanny view of the present moment, as we straddle the analog world that was and the post-human world to come.
I saw What the Constitution Means to Me on the day Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 2018. At the time, I said, “I started out not wanting this review to be entirely about politics, or at least not about my politics. But the show—like America right now—blends the personal and the political in ways that are as inextricable as the conversations I can’t seem to stop having.” I can’t help having some of those same emotions right now.
Some of these scenes are beautifully drawn, with the wit, pith and undercurrent of sadness characteristic of Harrison’s best work. (The opportunities and perils of A.I. as human companions were the subject of his play “Marjorie Prime,” a Pulitzer finalist in 2015.) The boy who gets the prosthetic finger is left at the workhouse because his family can no longer afford him. (Father to son: “Well. Goodbye, Tom. I don’t expect I’ll see you again.”) The reason the 1987 boy is grieving is that his bachelor uncle was buried that day. We don’t need to be told what he died of. But other scenes, like one set in 2076, when the last humans live as outlaws in a dystopia of semi-robot overlords, feel more like place fillers, necessary as steps in Harrison’s timeline but not compelling in themselves.
| 2024 | Off-Broadway |
Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway Premiere Production Off-Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Costume Design of a Pla | Brenda Abbandandolo |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play | David Cromer |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play | Caitlin Sullivan |
| 2025 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lighting Design of a Pl | Tyler Micoleau |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play | The Antiquities |
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