Review: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME at Guild Hall Players

Guild Hall Players staged What the Constitution Means to Me, by playwright, screenwriter and actor, Heidi Schreck, the most produced show of 2023/2024. Nominated for a Tony and a Pulitzer, both in 2019, it’s a mini tour of the American Constitution, weaving personal accounts of how the seemingly distant, lofty, and perhaps decrepit, document plays out in actual American lives, namely, the lives of women. Directed by the accomplished Phil Speary.

Reenacting a moment from the 1980s, when a younger Heidi, the playwright and narrator, is a fifteen year old from Wenatchee, WA, earning college money by competing in American Legion debates, students showcase their expertise in the Constitution and how it personally impacts their lives. Heidi then steps back into her adult self, and gives insight on how she feels about it with her current life experiences.

From accounts of Heidi’s great-great-grandmother who was purchased from a catalog, and died young from ‘melancholia,' to a Colorado woman who sued the Castle Rock police department, and eventually the United States, for not upholding her human rights, and honoring a restraining order that could have prevented their father from murdering her three daughters, to a group of nine men on the Supreme Court embarrassingly discussing the usefulness of birth control without a single woman’s voice present, and their true motives in question, as four of them were presumably having affairs. There is much most of us do not know about the Constitution.

We learn about abortion rights, rampant racism, women’s right to vote, and that the United States has been demoted from being a ‘true democracy’ to a ‘flawed democracy’ by the EIU. Staggering facts about women’s safety in the US, the frightening number of women who die at the hands of their intimate partners, 34%! Likely, you know one of these women. Unfortunately, I do.

It’s largely unsafe to be female in the world.

How does the Constitution protect us?

To be clear, this play does have an agenda : to inspire action. As a voter, I know I am doing one thing to help create the world I want to live in, but What the Constitution Means to Me shows that perhaps the disempowerment I feel beyond that, is intentional, and potentially the Constitution is doing what it was always meant to do, to protect privileged white men that haven’t yet learned to share.

In the second part of the show, a young student, Jocelyn, joins Heidi on stage for a debate on whether or not to abolish the Constitution and start over, or continue working to make it better. A member of the audience is then asked to pick a winner!

Miranda Windholz, as Heidi Schreck, carries the weight of the narrative. Having to contain the energy of a large room, she vulnerably takes us through the personal story of Heidi’s right to choice, and many harrowing women’s stories, as well as basically teaching American Government. A demanding role, both highly comedic and grave, she left it all out there for us.

Bobbi Green, as Mike Iveson, a family friend who attended Heidi's debates, is endearing and natural. Playing two roles, he makes the American Legion debates feel authentic as timekeeper. As Mike, he delivers a touching monologue about his dad, coming out, and turning the other cheek. He Illustrates how 'toxic masculinity' effects men, too.

Emily Redfield, as Jocelyn Ciprian, the current day high school student participating in the debates, was bright and well spoken. A solid debater, with a strong stage presence. I would have struggled to pick sides based on the strength of the arguments, but for the record, I say ABOLISH! Let's start fresh.

I agree with young Jocelyn's argument that people are imperfect and therefore would make an imperfect Constitution, and there have been improvements from how things used to be. However, it also feels like our rights are on the line, and perilous. We were gifted a pocket Constitutions to brush up!

If you missed the opportunity to see the Guild Hall Player’s production of What the Constitution Means to Me, on September 26-28th, 2024, at St. James Episcopal Church, check out a filmed version on Amazon Prime starring the playwright, who also originated the role on Broadway. Guild Hall’s next show is The Shadowbox, by Michael Cristofer, February 13-16, 2025.

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