PlayMakers Rep's Timely Production of Heidi Schreck's
What the Constitution Means to Me Is Excellent

NOTE: This is a review of the show's first preview performance on Wednesday, Oct. 16th.

PlayMakers Repertory Company has another winner! Although highly entertaining and often quite funny, Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me is primarily a meditation on several of the shortcomings of our society and an explanation of how the deeply cherished Constitution of the United States of America not only fails to protect marginalized citizens, but also further enables their marginalization. The script is unique and ingenious, and the PlayMakers Rep production is excellent.

Directed by Aubrey Snowden, this is a play in which the main character is Schreck herself, played at PlayMakers by Julia Gibson. Schreck alternates between speaking directly to the audience and acting out scenes from earlier in her life -- scenes that she has introduced while speaking directly. It offers a playful yet poignant chronicle of selected events in the playwright's life (starting at age 15) and showcases details about Schreck's family history that illustrate points that she makes about society.

Julia Gibson stars in Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me on Oct. 16-Nov. 3 at PlayMakers Rep (photo by HuthPhoto)

The Play:

We learn early on that the Schreck who speaks to us in the world of the play is 45 years old. She begins by looking back to when she was 15 and was earning scholarship money for college by entering (and winning) speech competitions sponsored by the American Legion. The subject of these speeches was "What the Constitution Means to Me," and contestants were supposed to connect their interpretations of the Constitution to their own lives. Schreck lets us know that, since she no longer has access to the actual speech, she will be reconstructing it from memory. (Stand by for a series of digressions.)

Schreck then tells us to pretend that we are "old white men" -- the American Legion members who would be attending and judging her speech. She continues by telling us, "Now I'm 15" and then steps into the world of that teenager.

Schreck is joined on stage by a stony-faced member of the American Legion who tries to keep rigid control over the proceedings. (He goes so far as to chide the audience for clapping at the wrong time.)

Then we get the reconstructed speech in which we hear about incidents in Schreck's life and in the lives of her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother (all of whom were victims of spousal abuse). She addresses spousal abuse throughout history and about how various governments (as far back as ancient Mesopotamia) have enabled (if not encouraged) it.

Young Schreck pays close attention to the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments and to the fact that they fail to guarantee their highly-touted "equal protection" to women, minorities, and other marginalized citizens.

Eventually, Schreck tells us that she is now speaking "as myself."

At a key moment, she declares, "I was raised to be psychotically polite." Later on, she tells about an incident that should be considered "date rape" and asserts that having sex "seemed to be the polite thing to do."

We also hear about an abortion (for which the "chivalrous" young man involved "offered to pay half"). And we hear about how, when she felt she should be telling her mother "I'm pregnant," she blurted out (through sobs and tears), "I miss George" (a stuffed sock-monkey).

"George" is important, because we eventually learn about "George the Second" and "George the Second's Friend" and about how an incident involving this third monkey led to a climactic moment of what she refers to as "Greek tragedy crying" that seemed to be "the appropriate response to everything right now."

There is a sequence during which the actor playing the Legionnaire identifies himself as an actor named "Mike" and proceeds to testify about experiences of his own that involve toxic masculinity.

In a final segment of the play, Julia Gibson (the actor who has been playing Schreck) declares that she is now herself. Julia Gibson is joined on stage by a high school "Debater." "Mike" becomes the moderator as Gibson and the Debater face off on the question of whether or not the Constitution should be replaced.

Julia Gibson and Jeffrey Meanza star in Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me at PlayMakers Rep (photo by HuthPhoto)

The Acting:

The acting is top-notch all around. Julia Gibson is great in all three of her roles -- as both iterations of Heidi Schreck and as "herself." Gibson's energy is always high, but it is appropriately "different" for each character. The transitions are smooth but obvious.

Jeffrey Meanza first gives us a Legionnaire who is as rigidly "stuck in the mud" as the character should be and then a frank and vulnerable Mike.

Taryn Melvin -- the Debater on Wednesday night -- is amazing. She holds her own with the two members of Actors' Equity Association with whom she shares the stage. Melvin will alternate nights with Amari Bullett.

Jeffrey Meanza stars in Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me on Oct. 16-Nov. 3 at PlayMakers Rep (photo by HuthPhoto)

The Tech:

Staging of this play is a work-of-art in itself. Scenic designer Derrick Ivey has provided a stylized version of the interior of an American Legion Hall (complete with 100 or so framed photos of members, two flags, a podium, and a desk). Included in the set is a runway that runs the length of the usual thrust stage of the Paul Green Theatre, but features cut out areas in which several of the audience members sit (and impersonate legionnaires). The Legion Hall deconstructs for the final sequence. Ivey also doubles as costume designer.

Lighting design, by Tao Wang, deftly follows the characters down the runway and, at key moments, illuminates a "message" on the floor.

Sound design is by Eric Alexander Collins.

Taryn Melvin stars in Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me on Oct. 16-Nov. 3 at PlayMakers Rep (photo by HuthPhoto)

Nice Touches:

• References to the Constitution as a "patchwork quilt" and as a "witches' cauldron."
• Schreck's digression about a changeling and swimming fairies.
• The story about mail-order brides in Washington State.
• The explanation of why a few U.S. Supreme Court justices decided that legalizing birth-control was a good idea.
• Schreck's request for "Note Cards."
• A Ruth Bader Ginsberg t-shirt.

Memorable Lines:

• "To prevent 'accidental' picture-taking ...."
• "Who we are now vs. who we are to become ...."
• "A giant super-charged force field" that "someone had to activate."
• "I decided to look in a thing called a phone book."
• "Our bodies had been left out of the Constitution from the beginning."
• "He got his constitutionally-protected gun ...."
• "... [L]aws telling her she was worthless."

Julia Gibson (left) and Amari Bullett star in Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me at PlayMakers Rep (photo by HuthPhoto)

The Bottom Line:

Produced during our "election season," this quite timely play becomes mega-timely. The food-for-thought is both "delicious" and "nourishing." Every character that we meet in "the two hours' traffic of [this] stage" is delightful and instantly likeable.

In short: I highly recommend PlayMakers Repertory Company's production of Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me.

Julia Gibson stars in Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me on Oct. 16-Nov. 3 at PlayMakers Rep (photo by HuthPhoto)

Heidi Schreck's WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME (In Person at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19, 20, and 23-27 and Oct. 30-Nov. 3), directed by Aubrey Snowden and starring (in alphabetical order) Amari Bullett, Julia Gibson, PRC associate artistic director Jeffrey Meanza, and Taryn Melvin (PlayMakers Repertory Company in the Paul Green Theatre in UNC-Chapel Hill's Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art). DIGITAL PROGRAM: https://issuu.com/playmakersrep/docs/wtcmtm_playbill. TRAILERS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KhoiJHCSzY and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgN7LKKS4vw. FEATURETTE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NtPDYBMIs4. PRESENTER: https://playmakersrep.org/, https://www.facebook.com/playmakersrep, https://www.instagram.com/playmakersrep/, https://twitter.com/playmakersrep https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayMakers_Repertory_Company, and https://www.youtube.com/@PlayMakersRepertory. 2024-25 SEASON: https://playmakersrep.org/season/2024-2025/. PRC BLOG: https://playmakersrep.org/about-us/our-blog/. VENUE: https://playmakersrep.org/about-us/paul-green-theatre/ and https://museum.unc.edu/exhibits/show/names/paul-green-theatre. DIRECTIONS/PARKING: https://playmakersrep.org/visitor-info/directions-and-parking/. WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME (2017 New York City, 2018 Berkeley Rep, 2018 Off-Broadway, and 2019 Broadway play and 2020 Amazon Original film): https://www.concordtheatricals.com/p/93589/what-the-constitution-means-to-me, https://www.nytw.org/show/what-the-constitution-means-to-me/, http://www.iobdb.com/Production/6610, https://constitutionbroadway.com/, https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/heidi-schreck-487972, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13096334/, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Constitution_Means_to_Me. THE SCRIPT (excerpts): https://books.google.com/. HEIDI SCHRECK (Brooklyn, NY playwright and screenwriter): https://playmakersrep.org/artists/heidi-schreck/, https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/277/heidi-schreck, https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/heidi-schreck-487972, http://www.iobdb.com/CreditableEntity/38083, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1690593/, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Schreck. NOTE 1: The show's official opening-night performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19th. NOTE 2: Childcare will available for an extra $25 at the Share the Show performance at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20th. NOTE 3: On 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27th, there will be an Open Captioned Performance and a Post-Show Discussion. NOTE 4: Arts Access, Inc. of Raleigh will audio-describe and American-sign-language interpret the show's performance at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30th. PRC AGE RECOMMENDATION: "Due to mature themes, strong language, and references to physical & sexual violence, and abortion, we recommend this performance for patrons 14 and older, parent's discretion is advised...." TICKETS: $20 and up ($10 students and youth), plus taxes and fees. Click here to buy tickets. INFORMATION: 919-962-7529 or prcboxoffice@unc.edu. PLEASE DONATE TO: PlayMakers Repertory Company.

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