Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Heidi Schreck’s WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME is an impassioned cry for the reexamination of the systems that govern us

• By drediman
• October 2, 2018
• No Comments

Heidi Schreck in “What the Constitution Means to Me” at New York Theatre Workshop. Photo by Joan Marcus.

This past weekend, Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me opened Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop. Despite its critical eye, the work arrives as an inspiring, soothsaying tonic during a time when many of us are feeling skeptical about our country’s ability to govern and protect its citizens. The premise – as a fifteen year old, Ms. Schreck debated and wrote speeches about the U.S. Constitution in order to raise scholarship money to put herself through college. The play conjures up this younger self to reexamine this aging document with renewed enthusiasm and focus. In her powerful, heartfelt performance, Ms. Schreck explores its evolving relevance to women over the course of the country’s history, particularly as it relates to those in her family (as well as to other groups on the outskirts).

Ms. Schreck started working on the essentially one-woman show about a decade ago (it had a brief run at Clubbed Thumb’s wonderful Summerworks series a few years back), which is evident in the confidence and gentle force with which she delivers the piece. Ms. Schreck is a riveting monologuist and has a natural gift for sincere storytelling. Not only is she able to shift between her teenage and current self with deft skill, she’s also able to inform each version with the essence of the other – with their respective vulnerabilities and strengths – so as to further enrich her already engrossing, rational arguments with layers of meaning. Indeed, the evening is filled with double entendres that kept me actively engaged throughout.

The production is directed by Oliver Butler in a deceptive manner, drawing us in with a staging that’s laid back yet stealthily pointed. As mentioned, the show is basically a solo show, but there are inspired guest appearances by Mike Iveson and, at my performance, Thursday Williams. Their presence smartly imbues a certain universality to the piece. By turns a tender family memoir and a passionate cry for the further examination of the systems (and people) that govern us, What the Constitution Means to Me is a deeply personal, and therefore beautifully accessible, piece of political theater. I also think it’s jut plain sensational theater that also happens to be important art.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME
Off-Broadway, Play
New York Theatre Workshop
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 28