Perseverance constitutes lived experiences through humor in first play of the season
- Ellie Ruel
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 19 hours ago
Perseverance Theatre brings Heidi Schreck’s “What the Constitution Means to Me” to Douglas stage
By Ellie Ruel
Juneau Independent
In an increasingly polarized political atmosphere where varying interpretations of the U.S. Constitution seem to make headlines every week, Perseverance Theatre is set to open a “hilarious and hopeful” play delving into the evolution and effects of the nation’s founding document.
“What the Constitution Means to Me” looks back on playwright Heidi Schreck’s coming-of-age on the constitutional debate circuit, re-examining the document through the lens of four generations of women whose lives were shaped by it. The production was a 2019 Pulitzer Prize finalist and won the 2019 Obie Award and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best New American Play.
“The play's pretty interesting in that she starts out by sharing that she has this pride in the fact that she was this 15-year-old that her mother got her onto the circuit of the American Legion halls, where there were contests about examining and speaking to the U.S. Constitution,” said Perseverance Artistic Director Leslie Ishii. “But as an adult she started to be able to look back on it and think about her 15-year-old self through young adulthood, and as time passes we find more and more language, more and more understanding for what's happened intergenerationally, what gets passed on, even though maybe our great grandmothers didn't quite have language for what was happening to them.”
Allison Waid is the leading actor, playing the role of Heidi as both an adult and teenager. For Waid, the production has an opportunity to step back into acting after a six-year hiatus while she started a family. She’s been a jack-of-all-trades performer for all 15 of her years in Juneau, having performed stand-up comedy, sung in a local band and acted in multiple productions.
“It's been nice to work on a piece of art that I feel like I'm learning from,” Waid said. “Also, I realized how much I didn't really know about the Constitution, and so this play is really cool because it ties in how the Constitution can really impact us, because my character talks about how it impacts her personal life.”
Waid also appreciated the play’s message, and how it highlighted past and present issues while maintaining a hopeful tenor.
“The thing that hits me every single time I perform is some of the subjects that I talk about. There can be really devastating Supreme Court decisions that they make based on their own interpretation of the Constitution,” Waid said.
She said despite the “devastating decisions” in history, people can work together to change things.
Cast member Ariel Estrada, known for an extensive 34-year acting career, including the self-written solo performance “Full Contact,” shared a similar sentiment. He plays a legionnaire, and later a character named Danny, who he said acted as a bit of a foil for Heidi’s character in some scenes, as well as bringing a male perspective to the narrative.
The production’s themes of politics and debate strike a personal note with Estrada, since he competed in debate and forensics during his time at Sitka High School and interned for then-U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski. Estrada said he enjoyed the experience, but preferred to tell stories through art, like Schreck did with “What the Constitution Means to Me.”
“I love acting because part of this particular itch to scratch is I get to tell stories, and I get to really sort of touch upon the emotional core of a lot of issues. As much as I love doing the politics of things and the activism of things, what I love about acting is you get to touch on the heart of how it affects human beings and their stories,” Estrada said.
The cast has only three members. Ishii said the third character is a bit of a surprise — but noted their inclusion cements the play as a truly intergenerational piece and spotlights the voice of Juneau’s youth. In Part 2 of the production, certain aspects are controlled by a coin flip, so the actors will rely on their improvisational skills.
“What the Constitution Means to Me” officially opens Friday at 7:30 p.m. and runs locally through the end of the month. Performances are set to include post-show discussion with the actors, the Juneau Human Rights Commission, and the League of Women Voters. Tickets and additional showtimes can be found at the Perseverance Theatre website.
Ishii said Schreck’s production artfully juxtaposes fact with lived experiences and humor, delivering information without becoming a lecture.
“It's a powerful play, because she brings both together,” Ishii said. “Her examination is very thorough, and it helps us come away with a very full experience, feeling more knowledgeable, even feeling empathy, but like she's called in our humanity, which to witness that with your fellow audience members is a powerful experience. Being in a community to experience that is, to me, one of the most important things we can do in the theater.”
• Contact Ellie Ruel at ellie.ruel@juneauindependent.com.
