This was the world as I went to Round House Theatre on January 21, 2025, to see a play about the Constitution: The President had just issued an executive order seeking to delete the application of the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment to any child born in the United States. Another executive order would not only remove the equal protection of anti-discrimination laws for transgender people but essentially erase their legal existence. Notwithstanding the constitutional imperatives of providing for the common defense and ensuring domestic tranquility, the President — now, thanks to the Supreme Court, immune from legal accountability for any “official acts” — pardoned violent offenders who had tried on his behalf to overturn the 2020 election by attacking the Capitol. What does the Constitution mean to anyone in this context?
In Round House Theatre’s excellent production of a revised, updated version of Heidi Shreck’s superb 2017 play (which DCTA editor John Stoltenberg, reviewing the 2019 Kennedy Center presentation, called “the most necessary American play of the century, so far”), Heidi, played by Kimberly Gilbert, does a very necessary thing in our present political world: examine the human consequences of what is, and what isn’t, in the Constitution.
Of particular importance to Heidi, what isn’t in the constitution is protection for women, their bodies, and their autonomy. The document was, after all, written by white men 236 years ago. The failure of the Equal Rights Amendment to be ratified left the situation unremedied.
As the play begins, Heidi steps into the persona of her 15-year-old self, giving speeches about the Constitution in an American Legion contest, the rules of which tell participants to relate provisions of the document to their personal lives. That is what the rest of the play does. Heidi’s personal life — getting an abortion as a young woman, the history in her family of violent abuse of women by their male partners — becomes the heart of the play, taking what could otherwise be an abstract exercise in legal interpretation and making it a compelling human story about the lives of real people, particularly women.
Heidi uses a lamentable 2005 Supreme Court decision, Castle Rock v. Gonzalez, to draw a contrast between constitutional abstraction and the human story of a woman left unprotected by it. The Court ruled that a town could not be sued for its police failing to enforce a restraining order, a failure that led to the murders of a woman’s three children by her estranged husband. In a snippet of the recorded oral argument, the Justices pay little attention to the woman and her children, instead delving deeply into the meaning of “shall.” Does it really mean “must”? (Apparently not.)
Gilbert does a remarkable job, physically and vocally, of embodying Heidi’s thoughts and feelings at various stages of her life and as she considers the weakness of the Constitution in protecting the bodies of women from male violence and constraints on their autonomy. Hers is a passionate, emotionally rich performance, full of well-timed humor while communicating the interplay between the words of the Constitution and the events of her life, fully deserving the standing ovation she and her castmates received at the end of the show.
The Round House production’s changes to the 2017 version of the play (which remains viewable on Amazon Prime) are timely, often subtle, and fit seamlessly into the flow of the script. One prominent update is the insertion of an excerpt from Justice Thomas’s questioning of an attorney during the oral argument in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), which eliminated constitutional protections for women’s reproductive decisions. The production also changes the character of Mike, the Legionnaire who supervises the speech competition at the beginning of the show. In the original production, Mike is a gay man who speaks of the difficulties of growing up in an unsupportive community. Here, played warmly and sympathetically by Michael Glenn, Mike is a father challenged by how to raise a son in a still-misogynistic society.
A delightful feature of both the current and original production is when, toward the end of the show, Heidi introduces a local high school student to argue with her whether the Constitution should be abolished. On opening night, the Debater role was played by a highly impressive, whip-smart Richard Montgomery High School senior, Fadekemi Laniyonu (Kat Pascual plays the role in other performances). Essentially, the debate is whether to replace the present “negative rights” constitutional framework (e.g., First Amendment prohibitions on laws curtailing the freedom of the press and religion) with a “positive rights” framework (e.g., a right to health care). An audience member is selected to decide which argument won.
The debate is lively and fun, though it never touches on the existing provision of Article V of the Constitution, which allows two-thirds of the states to call a new constitutional convention at any time. While the legal situation is very murky, there has been a strong conservative push in some states to call such a convention, which could rewrite the entire constitution, probably not much to the liking of proponents of expanded human rights.
Another intellectual challenge facing the script is its premise — stated at the outset and repeated throughout — that the Constitution is a “living document,” evolving with changes in society. This view is emphatically opposed by conservative advocates and judges, including the present Supreme Court majority, who take an “originalist” approach to constitutional interpretation. The play does not engage with this significant obstacle to its preferred way of looking at the Constitution.
The physical production is intentionally simple, with scenic designer Shoko Kambara’s set representing Heidi’s recollection of an American Legion hall furnished only with a podium and a couple of student desks. (Heidi mentions at one point wishing that there could be a grand set change but settles for Mike repositioning the podium.) Minjoo Kim’s lighting is similarly unobtrusive but effective, notably when it illustrates Heidi’s discussion of the Ninth Amendment’s “penumbra.” Morgan Gould’s direction is smooth and perfectly timed, in keeping with the well-planned informality of the production.
The coda to the play is a question-and-answer exchange between Gilbert and Laniyonu, as themselves rather than their characters, in which they respond to audience questions about their everyday lives. In an important way, this is what the play is about. If you get to know someone’s personal story, it’s much harder to convert them into abstractions, to be dealt with coldly and legalistically, at a distance. It’s fair to ask those who would shut the doors on people different from themselves: Do you know any undocumented immigrants or their U.S.-born children? Do you know any transgender folks? Would you sit down with someone of opposite political views and have a conversation about how your life informed your views? Are you willing to step out of your social media echo chambers?
In addition to larger-scale legal and political resistance and rebuilding in the face of the present political situation, these kinds of encounters are, at a micro level, an important element of meeting the challenge that Heidi poses to the audience: “Democracy is something we have to make happen, we have to fight for, every single day.”
Running Time: Approximately one hour and 45 minutes, with no intermission.
What the Constitution Means to Me plays through February 16, 2025, at Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD (one block from Bethesda Metro station). Tickets ($50–$108) can be purchased by calling 240-644-1100, visiting the box office, or online. (Learn more about special discounts here, accessibility here, and the Free Play program for students here.)
View the digital program for What the Constitution Means to Me here.
COVID Safety: Round House Theatre no longer requires that audience members wear masks for most performances. However, masks are required for the performances February 4 and February 6 (matinee). Round House’s complete Health and Safety policy is here.
What the Constitution Means to Me
By Heidi Schreck
Directed by Morgan Gould
Featuring Kimberly Gilbert and Michael Glenn