Review: ‘What the Constitution Means to Me’ at New York Theatre Workshop
A particular focus is on her material grandmother, Bette, a victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her second husband, Dick, a handsome barber, as well on her great-great grandmother Theressa, who died at the age of 36 from melancholia, or perhaps, she surmises, from domestic abuse as well.
Her 15-year-old self must give a prepared speech of no more than seven minutes, demonstrating “her understanding of the Constitution” and she is told to draw “a personal connection” between her own life and the document.
Shreck describes the 14th Amendment as “a supercharged force field protecting all your rights” although her today self notes that many of those rights were historically available only to men.
While much of what Schreck has to say is insightful and perhaps even brilliant, there are times where I wanted a break from the American Legion hall, a change in scenery if you would, as “Constitution” goes on for 90 minutes without an interval and her interlude into a tale of leaving her childhood sock puppet on an aircraft with resultant howls of anguish didn’t really provide the needed respite.
The pièce de resistance may be at the end, when Schreck engages in an actual debate with her high-school equivalent, at my show, the incredibly poised Thursday Williams, in a debate to determine whether the Constitution should be replaced in its entirety. The judge is a member of the audience.
Given the timing of “Constitution,” namely following the recent Supreme Court justice hearings, the idea of examining the oldest constitution in the world, the U.S. Constitution, written by James Madison, isn’t a bad one and to remind us what is actually in the document, the audience receives a parting gift, an individual copy of the Constitution in pocket-book form.
THE DETAILS
What the Constitution Means to Me
New York Theater Workshop
79 East Fourth Street
New York, N.Y. 10003
Runtime: One hour and 30 min.
www.nytw.org
(Photos: Accura Media Group)
Pages: 1 2
