What The Constitution Means To Me

The Repertory Theatre is bringing What The Constitution Means To Me to the Emerson Studio of the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus, running from October 21 through November 15. It's the opening production of the 2026-27 Steve Woolf Studio Series, and it's a play that works as much as a conversation as it does a performance.

Heidi Schreck wrote the piece based on her own life. As a teenager, she competed in American Legion debate competitions about the U.S. Constitution, winning cash prizes that she credits with paying for her college tuition. The show is framed as one of those debates: the teenage Heidi argues for the Constitution's flexibility, and the adult Heidi looks back at how the document failed to protect four generations of women in her family. It's a personal history that doubles as a political argument, and it's a play that doesn't stay on the stage—the production invites the audience to play the men in the American Legion Hall, and the actors are encouraged to ad lib and reference current events as they go. The lead is paired with local St. Louis high school debaters, so the room changes every night.

Nancy Bell directs, with Michelle Hand as Heidi and Joel Moses as The Legionnaire. The play premiered in 2017 and moved to Broadway two years later, where it was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best American Play, earning Schreck two Tony nominations. A filmed version starring Schreck herself premiered on Amazon Prime Video in October 2023.

If you're planning to go, there are a few different times to choose from. The run opens October 21 and goes through November 15, with performances on Saturday, October 24 at 4:30 PM; Sunday, October 25 at 2:30 PM; Wednesday, October 28 at 7:30 PM; Thursday, October 29 at 7:30 PM; and Friday, October 30 at 8:00 PM. It's at the Emerson Studio of the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus in St. Louis.