The Thunder River Theatre Company (TRTC) production of “What the Constitution Means to Me” is much more than the civics lesson its title might suggest. Within the confines of the theater, it is a whirlwind of time-traveling tales traversing generations of trauma, despair and discovery. Much more consequential are the conversations the play is bound to provoke after the proverbial curtain comes down.
In a somewhat rare set of circumstances, Heidi Schreck not only wrote the play, but she is also the central character as well as the actress who originated that role during the show’s initial runs off — and then on — Broadway in 2019. Those runs earned Schreck a slew of awards, including an Obie for Best New American Play, as well as nominations for Best Play at the Tony Awards and for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This surge of popularity has only continued to grow in the years since, and in 2024 the play is the most-produced in the country, according to TRTC dramaturg Kayla Henley’s show notes.
Staged in a doorless amalgam of the legionnaires’ halls Schreck toured as a 15-year-old, the opening stanza of the play sees Heidi, played by TRTC’s Missy Moore, invite the audience to travel back to her childhood. We learn that Heidi’s mother encouraged her to participate in legionnaire debates to win money to pay for her college education. A friendly legionnaire moderator, played by Christopher Wheatley, prompts her to launch into the memorized speeches of her youth.
These debates have been on Heidi’s mind, and it isn’t long before she begins to stray from the prescribed time limits and ventures into more personal territory. Heidi’s enthusiasm for talking about the Constitution and its many amendments has not waned, but her experiences have shifted her perspective in profound ways.
Once she gets going, Moore’s Heidi is a force to be reckoned with. On stage, she traces the horrific impacts of sexual violence and intimidation faced by the women in her family. Internally, she is grappling with the girl she once was, the woman she is now, and her own role in passing on intergenerational trauma. Moore handles this monumental struggle with grace and authority, but it is her expertly-timed vulnerability that leaves the deepest impression.
Wheatley, in the role of the legionnaire, gives the play a much-needed sense of form and structure. For most of the first act, he helps Heidi in her return to childhood, playing with warmth, patience and enthusiasm. In a pivotal moment, Heidi gives him the chance to break the fourth wall and speak his truth to the themes of the moment. The monologue that follows shines an informed light onto the veneer of masculinity and adds another dimension to the play’s social commentary.
In the play’s second act, the actors roll up their sleeves and engage in a parliamentary debate over whether or not the Constitution should be abolished. Vianne Camara, a local student with years of debate experience, jumps into the fray and demonstrates an impressive knack for verbal tête-à-tête. After such an intense first act, the debate is a decidedly more light-hearted piece of entertainment, though just as thought-provoking.
TRTC’s entire production team deserves credit for bringing such a timely and challenging play to the Roaring Fork Valley. Directors Cassidy Willey and Emily Henley clearly put in the groundwork that has allowed the cast to tell this story. Designers Tina Anderson, Sean Jeffries, Gabrielle Bailes and Sara Malloy have created a world that allows us to travel back in time a few decades, but also to contemplate generations past, present and future. Special consideration goes to dramaturg Henley, whose extensive research into the cases discussed in the show provided the audience with valuable context and extensive details.
The stories within this play are dressed up in humor at times, but they tell the tale of a country and a people with many wounds to heal. No matter what the Constitution means to you, it is vital that we listen to and consider what it means to people who come from different circumstances.
We have challenging work ahead of us, as a country. We need folks from all swathes of the political spectrum to be able to talk about the Constitution with both strength and vulnerability, and we need others to listen. When the time comes to make changes, we all must know what is at stake.

TRTC’s production of “What the Constitution Means to Me” has eight performances remaining: Sept. 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 at 7:30pm, and Sundays Sept. 22 and 29 at 2pm. Visit www.thunderrivertheatre.com for tickets.