What the Constitution Means to Me – review.

ARTS & CULTURE

By Martha Hoelzer
Guest Correspondent

This is a powerful performance of a timely and relevant play. What the Constitution Means to Me, by Heidi Schreck, had its opening night at PlayMakers Repertory Company on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus on October 19 and will run through November 3. In advance of the most important election in more than a century, the play explores the nation’s foundational document, what it is not, and most importantly, what it should be.

The story is largely autobiographical, and the premise is straightforward. The main character, Heidi, as a 40-year-old, contemplates the American Legion High School Oratorical Contests in which she participated at age 15. The production is mostly a one-woman show, but two other supporting players provide important elements of depth.

Although billed as a comedy, it’s often a matter of having to laugh to keep from crying. Indeed, this play is a cri de couer, on behalf of the millions of people through the centuries who have been excluded from the liberties or even protections of the Constitution: women, people of color, and Indigenous cultures. The play is scathing in calling out the hypocrisy of lofty rhetoric that obscures cruel exclusions. Racism, sexism, and, most harrowingly, domestic violence and sexual assault are plumbed in painful depth.

The lead actor, Julia Gibson, gives a self-effacing tour de force performance, deeply personal, droll, ironic, and seething with righteous indignation. Jeffrey Meanza, who plays the legionnaire, also gives a nuanced performance as the functionary host of the youth contest and then shedding the uniform to tell a personal story.

At the end of the main story, there is a staged debate between Gibson and a high school debate club student. Amari Bullett and Taryn Melvin play themselves in alternate performances.

Constitution – Taryn Melvin by HuthPhoto, courtesy of PlayMakers Repertory Company.

Throughout the production, there is a constant shift in the characters and times. Heidi introduces herself and the premise, then says, “Now I’m 15-year-old me.” Several times during the debate young Heidi steps forward and says, “Now I’m me now.” The changes are dramatic in presenting how understanding – for better or worse – grows and evolves in a citizen and in the nation. It can be tricky to keep track, but then main theme of the production is penumbra, shadow, and liminal space.

What the Constitution Means to Me premiered on Broadway in 2019. It was nominated for two Tony Awards and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in drama. According to the PlayMakers program, the play was the most-produced play in the country in the 2023-24 season.

Constitution – Julia Gibson and Amari Bullett by HuthPhoto, courtesy of PlayMakers Repertory Company.

The PlayMakers production marks the directorial debut of Aubrey Snowden, a company member in her sixth season and a teaching assistant professor in the UNC Department of Dramatic Art. Costumes and scenery were designed by Derrick Ivey, lighting by Tao Wang, and sound by Eric Collins.

Tickets are $20 to $77, half price for youth, and available on the PlayMakers website, or at the box office, 919-962-7529. The theater is in the Joan H Gillings Center for Dramatic Art, 120 Country Club Rd, Chapel Hill.