Heidi Schreck’s Pulitzer finalist What the Constitution Means to Me comes to a working American Legion hall, the very kind of room where the play is set. Fifteen-year-old Heidi paid for college by winning Constitutional debate contests at Legion halls across the country. Decades later, she revisits those speeches and traces how this founding document has shaped four generations of women in her family. By turns funny, furious, and deeply personal, the play builds to a live debate over whether we should keep the Constitution or start over. Four actors share the title role across the run, a different Heidi each night. Staged at American Legion Tattler Post 973 in North Center, just weeks before the November election.
Playwright: Heidi Schreck
Company: Ways & Means Theatre
Creative team:
Director: Kaeli Meno
Costume Coordinator: Mary Grace Seigel+
Props Coordinator: Douglas Atkins+
Cast:
Heidi:
Anne Trodden+: Thurs 10/1, Weds 10/7, Wed 10/14, Fri 10/23
Amanda Roeder+: Fri 10/2, Thu 10/8, Fri 10/16, Sun 10/25
Samantha Garcia: Sat 10/3, Sun 10/11, Sun 10/18, Thurs 10/22
Salome Mergia*+: Sun 10/4, Fri 10/9, Sat 10/24
Legionnaire/Mike: Michael Lomenick
Debater: Maddie Rose Curtain
Artistic Director: Douglas Atkins+
Lead Producer: Leanna Gianoutsos Oliveira+
WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. (www.concordtheatricals.com)
Partners and Support: Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, League of Women Voters of Chicago, The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, American Legion Tattler Post 973, and the ACLU of Illinois.
*denotes member of Actor’s Equity Association
+denotes Ways & Means Theatre company member