"What the Constitution Means to Me" at the Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad Cities -- August 26.
Monday, August 26, 7 p.m.
Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad Cities, 2930 West Locust Street, Davenport IA
A filmed-live version of the hit stage piece that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award nominee for Best Play, director Marielle Heller's What the Constitution Means to Me enjoys a special, free screening at Davenport's Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad Cities on August 26. This Women’s Equality Day event finding writer/star Heidi Schreck both humorously and seriously challenging how Americans understand their rights in the U.S. Constitution, and arguing that the document actually does little to guarantee the rights of women and minority groups.
As both her play's author and its leading figure, Schreck begins What the Constitution Means to Me by communicating her story to the audience through the lens of both herself in the present and through the performance of her 15-year-old self as a Constitutional debater in 1989, when she gave speeches on what the Constitution of the United States meant to her in order to win prize money for college. Pictures of men on the walls and a WWII veteran onstage represent the competitions' judges and moderator. Schreck talks about multiple facets of the Constitution throughout the play, but discourse about the Ninth Amendment—which Schreck refers to as the "penumbra" of the Constitution, quoting former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas—is central to the show. She also includes a deep dive into the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which discusses citizenship rights and what it means to be "American."
Schreck also addresses themes of sexual assault, domestic abuse, and immigration as they relate to the women in her family, to herself, and to others related to significant legal cases in American history. She shares her own experience in getting an abortion when she was in her 20s and fearing sexual assault during college. In addition, Schreck discusses the abuse of her mother and her grandmother, Bette, by Bette's husband. She also includes the story of her great-great-grandmother, who in 1879 was sent from her home country of Germany to Washington state after being purchased from a catalogue by her future husband. Shreck's great-great-grandmother was eventually admitted to a mental hospital for “melancholia” and died at the age of 36.
Throughout What the Constitution means to Me, Schreck, who was nominated for both Best Play and Best Actress in a Play at the 2019 Tony Awards, highlights what she now sees as the pitfalls of the Constitution. Mainly, she argues that the Constitution does not protect all Americans because it was not created to protect all Americans—it is largely concerned with negative rights and not limiting the actions of white men. Beyond focusing on Schreck's experiences, actor Mike Iveson moves out of his role of the WWII veteran and shares his own experience in regards to his sexuality and experience with masculinity, and the play ends with a dialogue, moderated by Iveson, in which Schreck engages with a local high school debater on whether or not the U.S. Constitution should be abolished and replaced. During the Broadway run of the show, this debate and its conclusion were unique to each live performance.
What the Constitution Means to Me will be screened in Davenport on August 26, with the free 7 p.m. event sponsored by NOW, AAUW, One Human Family, and the Metropolitan Community Church. For more information on the evening, e-mail qcequalityday@gmail.com.
