Review: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME at ZACH Theatre

Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me is not a typical play. It’s a reckoning. It’s a TED Talk with tears. A courtroom drama where the defendant is the American Constitution, and the witnesses are generations of women whose lives have been battered, bound, or erased by its omissions. At ZACH Theatre, under the blistering heat of history and honesty, that reckoning feels profoundly personal — and more necessary than ever.

Originally debuting off-Broadway in 2017 and transferring to Broadway in 2019 to critical acclaim, What the Constitution Means to Me earned two Tony nominations and was a Pulitzer finalist. Schreck, a former teenage constitutional debate champ, built the show from her own experience — blending memoir, civics, and rage with humor and vulnerability. On Broadway, it hit like a lightning strike. In Austin, it feels like a warning shot.

The first act is a tour de force. Nisi Sturgis delivers a magnetic, near-solo performance as Schreck’s younger self — a fifteen-year-old girl competing for scholarship money by praising the U.S. Constitution before a panel of older men. Armed with only a microphone, a yellow blazer, and sharp charisma, Sturgis leads us from patriotic pageantry to pointed critique. What begins as a teenage debate gradually exposes the Constitution’s profound failures — especially its neglect of women, people of color, and the most vulnerable.

Sharing the stage is the Legionnaire (played with quiet authority by Jeff Mills), a symbolic stand-in for the older, institutional men who once judged Schreck in real debate halls. Though mostly silent, his presence is a potent reminder of who has historically held power — and who’s been left out of the conversation.

The second act takes a sharp turn. A younger actor (Samari Davis the night I attended) joins Sturgis for a live debate: Should we keep the Constitution — or scrap it and start over? The audience becomes the jury as the two women engage in a spirited, intergenerational clash over whether the document can evolve or whether its foundations are too flawed to salvage. It’s a bold, effective shift — especially as the argument comes from a young woman of color (the alternate actor is Vanessa Hoang Hughes), embodying the urgency many young Americans feel: that real progress demands radical change.

The play poses a question we can’t ignore: Does the U.S. Constitution — our most revered civic document — truly represent the needs and demographics of modern America? If you’re listening closely, the answer is a resounding “no.” But is that reason enough to toss it out and start over? Can we trust those in power to do better? What can we, as citizens, do to make it work for all of us? These are the questions the play invites us to wrestle with — and why I urge you to see it.

The audience’s reactions the night I attended were just as revealing. In our socially progressive, diverse city, the divide was still palpable. Women laughed loudly, sighed audibly, and cried openly — a shared expression of recognition and frustration. Many men — not all — remained quiet. Some looked puzzled. Perhaps uncomfortable. Perhaps untouched. That divide speaks volumes: those most affected by systemic injustice are often the ones most awake to it. And those with the power to change it often don’t feel the sting.

As a Latina woman in America in 2025, I didn’t just watch What the Constitution Means to Me — I felt it. When Sturgis spoke of domestic violence being constitutionally invisible, I thought of how often women of color are left unprotected — overlooked, dismissed, or silenced by the very systems meant to serve us. Her words about ancestors treated like property echoed the enduring inequalities woven into our institutions. From abortion laws that undermine our bodily autonomy to the daily obstacles women face in health care, education, and politics, the show makes one truth painfully clear: the Constitution was never written with us in mind — and we’re still fighting to be included.

This production stands out not only for its polish, humor, and heartfelt performances — though all are present — but because it delivers hard truths with clarity and trusts the audience to engage. That many women did, and some men didn’t, isn’t a shortcoming of the play. It’s a reflection of why it matters so much.

Michael Hoover’s set, a modest American Legion hall of varnished wood and flag-draped nostalgia, is deceptively simple. The portraits on the wall — an all-white, all-male lineup of veterans — do the heaviest lifting. Their silent gaze reminds us whose stories have been preserved in history and whose have not. Women, especially Black, Indigenous, and Latina women, have always served. They just haven’t been seen.

Under the meticulous direction of Jenny Lavery, ZACH Theatre’s production of What the Constitution Means to Me is more than a play. It’s a classroom, a courtroom, and a call to arms. For anyone who's ever felt like a second-class citizen in the land of the free, it’s a lifeline. And for those who haven’t, it’s a chance to ask: What kind of America are we really fighting for?

Duration: 2 hours, no intermission.

WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME

Written by Heidi Schreck

Directed by Jenny Lavery

Now playing through May 11th, 2025

Wednesday through Saturday 7:30PM

Saturday and Sunday at 2:30PM

Zach Theatre