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What does the Constitution mean to me? I had never actually thought much about the constitution before going to law school in Brazil. While there, we had four years of classes studying the 1988 Brazilian Constitution (which is younger than me) and its 250 articles, filled with amendments. To this date, amendments are added to the Brazilian Constitution quite often.
As a law student, I studied the meaning this new document had for the country as a whole, since it was the first one after a 21-year dictatorship. But I never thought about connecting to it on a personal level.
Similarly, I’ve always been amazed at how the U.S. Constitution has remained the same for over two centuries, with just very few amendments. And it always struck me that people would know the beginning of the text, as well as many of the amendments by heart. In TV shows, movies, interviews, all types of people quote the U.S. Constitution with an ease that it is very rare to happen in Brazil.
This is probably why I was fascinated with What the Constitution Means to Me, the new play on Broadway, recently transferred from the New York Theatre Workshop.
Written and performed by Heidi Schreck, she recalls her 15-year-old self, as she would participate in Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. She was able to pay for her college tuition with the prizes she won on these competitions. Heidi, then, re-enacts how the questions and answers were, where she would have to talk about an Amendment and connect it to her life.
She talks about many points on the U.S. Constitution, but her focus is mainly on the 14th Amendment, which addresses many aspects of citizenship and the rights of citizens. She had to argue about the four clauses of Section 1.
As she explained the Amendment, she would tell stories of her family, mainly about the women in her family and how a long history of abuse by men had haunted them. She would make parallels between situations and what the Amendment said, pointing out how it didn’t really protect women.
Her catharsis on stage reminded me a little about Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette, available on Netflix, since both women tell their stories very poignantly, but also including funny commentaries in between.
Heidi also uses audio from Supreme Court Justices debating their opinions over landmark cases to prove some of her points. For example, an excerpt of the Justices discussing the meaning of the word “shall” when analyzing Castle Rock v. Gonzales.
The play also features a high-school girl to participate in a debate with her about defending the current constitution or creating a new one. On the night I went, this part was played by Rosdely Ciprian.
After 100 minutes of listening to all of her stories and arguments about what is good about the U.S. Constitution and what it lacks, it is impossible to leave the theater without thinking about it. Luckily for the audience, they provide a copy of the document to help the conversation. Since it is such a specific topic, it might not be that attractive to tourists that are not that familiar with the U.S. Constitution. However, I would argue that it is a very helpful insight to see how Americans deal with and care about this document so much and, very likely, will make foreigners think about their countries own constitutions as well and what they mean to all of them.
What the Constitution Means to Me is playing on Broadway until July 21, 2019.
