What The Constitution Means To Me at Stone Branch Center for the Arts

Selah Theatre Project Presents “What the Constitution Means to Me” at Stone Branch Center for the Arts

Front Royal, VA - Selah Theatre Project is bringing one of the most influential contemporary American plays to the Shenandoah Valley this winter with What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck, running January 22–25, 2026, at Stone Branch Center for the Arts. The production offers Warren County and Winchester-area audiences an intimate, challenging, and participatory exploration of democracy, memory, and personal history.

Rather than approaching the U.S. Constitution as a distant historical document, What the Constitution Means to Me places it firmly in the lived experiences of everyday people. The play blends memoir, legal history, humor, and live debate to examine how the Constitution has shaped generations of Americans often in uneven and deeply personal ways.

At the center of the story is Schreck herself, portrayed in this production by Joanna Schilling of Berryville. The play draws from Schreck’s teenage years traveling the country competing in American Legion constitution speech contests to earn college scholarship money. As an adult, she revisits those speeches with clarity and skepticism, interrogating the promises of the Constitution alongside its omissions and failures.

For Schilling, the role requires vulnerability as much as performance.

“This play asks for a level of honesty that’s rare in theatre,” she said. “Heidi’s story is deeply specific, but the questions she’s asking about safety, power, and whose voices matter belong to all of us. Every night feels like opening a door and inviting the audience to walk through it with you.”

That invitation becomes literal in the play’s final moments, when the audience is asked to participate in a live debate and vote on whether the Constitution should remain unchanged or be replaced altogether. The debater, portrayed by Naomi Greenwalt of Warren County, brings youthful urgency and clarity to the conversation.

“The debate isn’t about winning,” Greenwalt explained. “It’s about listening. Each audience brings something different into the room, and that changes the conversation every single night. It’s exciting because the ending isn’t fixed. It belongs to the people sitting there.”

Presiding over the constitutional contest is the Legionnaire, played by Will Speakman of Winchester, a character who represents tradition, patriotism, and institutional authority. Speakman sees the role as essential to the play’s balance.

“The Legionnaire believes deeply in the Constitution as it stands,” he said. “What makes the play powerful is that it doesn’t ridicule that belief. It honors tradition while still allowing space for critique. The audience gets to sit in that tension.”

Director Bleu Do’zia says that tension is precisely why Selah Theatre Project chose the work for this moment.

“This isn’t a play that tells people what to think,” Do’zia said. “It asks people to show up, to listen, to question, and to engage honestly with one another. In a time when conversation feels polarized or shut down altogether, this piece invites us back into shared civic space.”

Each performance will be followed by a hosted TalkBack, giving audiences the opportunity to reflect, ask questions, and engage in guided discussion about the play’s themes. Topics include constitutional interpretation, generational trauma, gender-based violence, and systemic inequality. Due to its subject matter, the production is recommended for older teens and adults.

The production also reflects Selah Theatre Project’s continued growth and evolving presence in the region. While performances of What the Constitution Means to Me will take place at Stone Branch Center for the Arts, the company recently announced that it will open a permanent home in June 2026 at the old First United Methodist Church in Winchester, calling it The Vivienne L. Jackson Sanctuary for the Arts.

The new space will serve as a dedicated hub for theatre, community dialogue, education, and interdisciplinary arts programming. Named after the owner of this historic Ruth's Tea Room which was the subject of a play Do'zia wrote in 2023. 

“This production is part of a larger season of transition and intention for us,” Do’zia said. “As we prepare to open the Vivienne L. Jackson Sanctuary for the Arts this summer, we’re thinking deeply about the kind of work we want to house there: work that invites conversation, courage, and care. This play is a strong reflection of that vision.”

Performances of What the Constitution Means to Me will run January 22–25, 2026, at Stone Branch Center for the Arts. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $5 for high school students, making the production accessible to a wide range of community members. Each show includes a post-performance TalkBack.

Tickets and additional information are available through Selah Theatre Project's website: www.selahtheatreproject.org