What the Constitution Means to Me, now playing at the 5th and D Street Theatre, connects the Constitution of the United States, a cryptic, venerated document, to our everyday lives. Playwright Heidi Schreck (portrayed by Natasha Samuelsen in this autobiographical show) recounts her experience to the audience as a teenager traveling the country to earn college money by participating in constitutional debate contests hosted by the American Legion to “develop a deeper appreciation for the U.S. Constitution among high school students.” She reenacts parts of her winning speech from memory, moving between past and present.
The set is a simplified recreation of an American Legion Hall, with a double row of black and white portraits of real-life veterans looming over a podium. The stern visages watch Schreck’s every move, connecting the audience to what it must have felt like for her to talk about the constitution and the violence its allowed — even protected — to the American Legion. Part of her recreation is a moderator from the Legion (William English III), whose role is to keep time and emcee the contest. The key to winning these contests is to draw personal connections to the Constitution. Schreck gives parts of her speech as her 15-year-old self with interjections of supplementary context from her current self. She tells stories of her family history as it relates to protections and lack thereof in the Constitution. She also talks about similar (and similarly crushing) current events. It’s no secret that the Constitution was written to protect a few, and Schreck’s stories relate how it has failed many in the face of violence against women.
By the end of the first act, Schreck has moved away from her younger self to focus on her current relationship with the Constitution, how it’s changed, and to delve deeper into what it means to live under constant threat of violence from men. English also drops his role as the Legionnaire to speak to the audience directly about the original actor’s personal experience with toxic masculinity.
The second act is structured as an abridged parliamentary debate between Samuelsen and local high school debater Brooklyn Burns. English is once again a moderator, though as himself this time. The debate topic is whether we should abolish the Constitution and start over. They both have good points and at the end of the debate, they ask an audience member to choose a winner.
Looking back at our younger selves and considering how our views have been changed, or strengthened, by our experiences is an interesting approach to reviewing how the Constitution has affected us throughout our lives. This play is a monologue for Schreck to implore us to think of the Constitution as something that affects us personally, every day. Her arguments are valid and recounting her youthful enthusiasm on the subject is interesting. I did have a little bit of a challenging time feeling the differences between her younger and current selves. Schreck tells us who she was at any given time, and Samuelsen gives the two versions of her character appropriately different energies. However, I didn’t feel immersed in the difference. If there was anything in the lighting or sound to differentiate 15-year-old Schreck from current Schreck, I missed it. English also smoothly differentiates between his Legionnaire role and himself, but I feel both actors could have been supported a bit more by the environment in their endeavors.
Schreck’s personal stories of generational violence point out that such atrocities do not happen in a vacuum. They are also not uncommon. At the heart of this play is an entreaty to take the Constitution personally, to think about it, to debate its virtues and shortcomings openly. We should do this not just to win prize money, as young Schreck did, but to be a part of making our own world as much as we can by listening, learning and voting.
Performances of What the Constitution Means to Me at the 5th and D Street Theatre will run through Sept. 28 with Friday and Saturday shows at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. (special Masked Matinee on Sunday, Sept. 14). Visit redwoodcurtain.com. l
Doranna Benker Gilkey (she/her) is a longtime Humboldt County resident and can often be found at her store Dandar’s Boardgames and Books in Arcata.
This article appears in Double the Drama.