Skip to Content

The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

What the Constitution Means to Me

At age 15, in debates around the country, Heidi Schreck earned her college tuition by making evangelically positive arguments for the U.S. Constitution, which she called “the greatest piece of political writing in the world.” Her mostly one-person show has its roots in that experience. But through the years, the Constitution’s vagueries and omissions caught up with Schreck. Who were the people it really speaks to and protects? Were minorities among them? Was Schreck? The resulting play is witty, searching, personal, and powerful. In the last week of the show’s record-breaking Broadway run, director Marielle Heller (director of the Oscar-nominated films A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Can You Ever Forgive Me?) captured the play at the Helen Hayes Theater. Now you can see it on Amazon Prime Video. —L.J.

Heidi Schreck in “What the Constitution Means to Me” at Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theater. Photo by Joan Marcus.