“What the Constitution Means to Me” is presented by AT&T Performing Arts Center in a limited engagement opening Jan. 4. The award-winning play runs through Jan. 9 at the Winspear Opera House. Dallas theater-goers will be able to see for themselves what all the buzz surrounding Heidi Schreck’s “boundary-breaking” play is about.
Playwright Schreck was only fifteen years old when she earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. She resurrects her teenage self in this “hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human new play” as she attempts to “trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.”
“What the Constitution Means to Me”
The play, directed by Oliver Butler, is Schreck’s deeply personal look at the document created by our country’s founding fathers. The playwright imagines how the Constitution will shape the next generation of Americans. When it opened on Broadway in 2019, it quickly became a sensation.
Schreck played her teenage self in the Broadway production, which received two Tony® award nominations plus numerous other accolades and considerable critical praise. It was also recorded live on Amazon Prime Video.
The national tour stars Cassie Beck (“I Know What You Did Last Summer” on Amazon Prime, The Humans on Broadway) as Heidi. Original Broadway cast member Mike Iveson is also featured, and he is joined by high school debaters Jocelyn Shek and Emilyn Toffler.
Critical Praise
Jesse Green of The New York Times proclaimed “What the Constitution Means to Me” was “not just the best play on Broadway, but also the most important.” Other critics chimed in, with Sara Holdren, New York magazine, pronounced it “A brilliantly crafted show, harrowing and funny and humane, that accesses the political through the deeply personal.” Marilyn Staisio, Variety, called it “An eye-opener and a jaw-dropper.”
“What the Constitution Means to Me” runs 105 minutes, and is performed with no intermission. Recommended for ages 12 and over. Performances start at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, and at 8 p.m. Friday-Sunday, with matinee performances at 2 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora Street. For reservations and ticket information, visit attpac.org.
