The University of Idaho Repertory Theater will put on four productions of the play “What the Constitution Means to Me” this week at the Forge Theater. There will be a preview performance on Thursday, Nov. 30, and regular performances on Friday, Dec. 1 and Saturday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. On Sunday Dec. 3, the performance will be at 2:00 p.m.
“What the Constitution Means to Me” is a 2017 play written and originally performed by Heidi Schreck. The play personal, intimate and inspired by Schreck’s experience competing in the American Legion Oratorical contests for scholarship money as a 15-year-old from Wenatchee, Washington. In the competition, participants addressed parts of the U.S. Constitution and their personal connections to them.
In Schreck’s “What the Constitution Means to Me,” she reflects on the debates and the U.S. Constitution again and how it has left out women and other various issues.
Schreck’s “What the Constitution Means to Me” premiered on Broadway in 2019 and was nominated for numerous awards, including a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize for Drama also in 2019.
UI’s production of “What the Constitution Means to Me” will star Kelly Quinnett who is a graduate school alumna, professor, and the head of acting in the UI Theatre Arts Department.
David Lee-Painter, the director of UI’s production of “What the Constitution Means to Me”, has been teaching this play in his play analysis class since 2018. After 29 years teaching at UI, Lee-Painter chose “What the Constitution Means to Me” as the final play to direct before he retires.
“[‘What the Constitution Means to Me’] has been an opportunity to create with my dear friend, Kelly Quinnett, on material that we’re both really passionate about, and to work with my wife,” Lee-Painter said. “We used to collaborate together and so it just feels kind of like a nice coda on my time here [at UI], getting to be nostalgic about all those years here, and being able to share a piece of theater that I really love.”
Lee-Painter also describes the Forge Theater, where the performances will take place, as an intimate setting for a very personal and autobiographical play.
“The Forge Theater holds 100 seats and we’re doing it with audiences on all four sides of the stage. They will get a very different theater experience and they’re used to. It’s an intimate interaction with the actors and with a play that’s an intimate examination of one person’s experience and interaction with the constitution as the lens,” Lee-Painter said. “Heidi Schreck’s story is really moving as what it is to be a woman in this country and live with that constitution, but it’s also funny and thought provoking.”
Jeff Davis, UI theater graduate alumni and the actor who will play the Legionnaire in “What the Constitution Means to Me,” describes the play as high energy and an emotional rollercoaster.
“There are parts that are very funny, there are parts that are very pointy and there are parts that are very troubling. There is talk of abortion, there is talk of domestic violence, but there are also some really witty, light and fun moments,” Davis said. “What I hope people take away from it, is that I hope they just really step back and remember, that yes, the constitution for everything that it has going for it, it still has flaws and it still relies on the kindness of strangers–the Supreme Court or Congress—to interpret what it’s saying and historically that’s left a lot of people out. I hope, even if not to seek change, they will recognize that.”
Georgia Swanson can be reached at [email protected]