Patti LuPone, Lynn Nottage, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Young Jean Lee, Joe Mantello and others answer the question: How should theater be different?in January, but not with Schreck, who was pregnant at the time with twins. I was pleased to discover that the play is strong enough not to depend on the performance of its author, but Schreck’s brings an emotional intensity that elevates the work to another level.
Joining Schreck on stage is Mike Iveson, who dons American Legion drag in his role as the contest rule keeper. This framework is maintained only as needed in a play that drolly calls attention to its own fluidity. Schreck jokes, “In spite of what some people think, this show is actually quite carefully constructed.” She’s right. Entertainingly casual as it may seem, “What the Constitution Means to Me” is as meticulously worked out as a legal brief.
The contests that Schreck excelled in asked her to draw a personal connection to the Constitution. Not comfortable in her youth talking about difficult family history, she allows her adult self to take over and share the stories of her great-great-grandmother, a mail order bride from Germany who died at 36 in a mental hospital, and her maternal grandmother, whose violent second husband threatened the life of her children, who were called upon to testify against their stepfather in court.
Show me the part about the “living Constitution “. I don’t see a reference in any of it that implies this. It’s revisionist nonsense. If that’s one of the best theatre experience you have had in your your like virtue signaling makes me ignore your premise. Hyperbole at best.
iron lady.
iron lady.