We the people, in order to form a more perfect audience, promise to participate when called upon in “What the Constitution Means to Me,” Open Stage’s new narrative dramedy, directed by Stuart Landon. We vow to hoot and holler in our pursuits of happiness, in much the same way we are expected to involve ourselves in our country’s great experiment of our federal constitutional republic.
At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, when founding father Benjamin Franklin was asked whether we have a monarchy or a republic, Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” He once wished he could cryonically preserve himself and later un-pickle himself hundreds of years later, just to see how the experiment turned out.
I wonder what Franklin and his peers would think of Tony-award-nominated, Pulitzer-finalist playwright Heidi Schreck (Karen Ruch) – a woman *gasp* giving public speeches, critiquing the government he helped to create. Women weren’t intended to be covered under the Constitution, reflecting its time in history, authored centuries ago by white men who were far from perfect.
Just as we have three branches of the federal government, Schreck pens us a three-person play that is as educational as it is personal.
And Ruch delivers a vulnerable performance that is equal parts funny and sad. Through Ruch, we meet 15-year-old Schreck on a tour stop at her hometown American Legion speech contest, which is how she earned herself a free ride to college. A self-described Constitutional zealot, Schreck’s passion for civics often overrides the parliamentary procedure and protocols that her audience of Legionnaires live and die by.
This play doesn’t shirk its duty in highlighting the problematic sections of the Constitution. Who is a person under the law, like women and Native Americans, or the curious fraction three-fifths of a person? Then there are the minefields of reproductive rights and would-be citizens that the founding fathers basically left as fallow fields, open to interpretation in the ever-present areas in the document that are every shade of gray.
Ruch easily slips in and out of character, breaking that fourth wall to connect personally with we, the people in the audience, taking us down several purposeful rabbit holes. With her cherubic facial expressions, Ruch brings a youthful enthusiasm to Schreck’s 15-year-old self. With lightning-fast mood changes, as her character ages, Ruch slides into a more seasoned viewpoint. With good humor and compassion, she delves into vaulted secrets, family scandals, mental illness and generational trauma. Then just as seamlessly, Ruch glides back into “Karen” to get personal.
Performer David Richwine also connects with the audience on a heart level. He shares his experiences about not only positive male role models, but also toxic masculinity, and what it means to be a man. Richwine also doubles as the role of the American Legion’s Moderator, a humorless parliamentarian. Richwine manages to make his character funny, even while he plays him straight.
Schreck entrusts the young Americans with the activism baton, although there is no finish line for this relay race. In the spirit of the high school civics classes of yore, built into the show is a high-school-style debate. Joining Ruch onstage is a local student from Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School’s debate team, Emma Sweigart. Tapping into an oomph – an unafraid posture that most of us would need a time machine and a pot of coffee to recapture, Sweigart deftly argues her point and nails her role. I won’t spoil it by telling you the topic, or who’s arguing which proposition/opposition, but I hope you’re ready to get involved and choose a side.
If you bring a young person (14 and older, please), they may hear some shocking things. But even the language and sexual references aren’t as shocking as how many of our founding fathers found themselves in unethical predicaments. No matter who sits next to you, when that proverbial curtain falls, this play is sure to inspire you and your plus-one to have a lively “third act” – intense conversations about what the Constitution means to you and yours.
“What the Constitution Means to Me” runs May 11 through June 1 at Open Stage, 25 Court St., Harrisburg. For more information, check their website at www.openstagehbg.com/shows/constitution.
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