TheatreSquared sets the stage for 2024 with "What the Constitution Means to Me"
Kelsey Venter as Heidi | Photo: Wesley Hitt
TheatreSquared opens the “indelible, subversive, and audaciously funny” play
WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME
By Heidi Schreck
Directed by Amy Herzberg
Starring Kelsey Venter
January 24-March 3, 2024
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS—January 10, 2024— Tony Award nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist What the Constitution Means to Me will open in TheatreSquared’s Spring Theatre on January 24 and will run through March 3. Tickets, ranging in price from $43 to $68, can be purchased by calling (479) 777-7477 or by visiting theatre2.org.
During its run in New York, The New York Times hailed What the Constitution Means to Me as “not just the best play to open on Broadway this season, but also the most important.” The Washington Post declared that “it would be hard to find a work for the theater with its finger more on the pulse of America right now.”
But, says director Amy Herzberg, theatergoers shouldn’t expect the political commentary to feel stiff or overbearing.
“This play is like a great personal conversation with a close girlfriend over coffee,” notes Herzberg. “Lots of loud, passionate talk, and a whole lot of laughter. It’s the kind of piece we love at T2, inviting us to laugh — and think — deeply.”
Herzberg was immediately captivated by the script, which she describes as “funny, important, and ultimately optimistic.”
“I love how the play, through its interactive aspects, invites us all in to ask the title question,” she says. “It’s not what the Constitution means to Heidi Schreck, the playwright, but what it means to all of us.”
The play is inspired by the life experiences of playwright Heidi Schreck and those of her foremothers. As a teenager, Heidi earned her college tuition and a deep love of the Constitution by winning debate competitions at American Legions all over the country. Now grown up, she hilariously and poignantly reimagines how this living document served four generations of women and what it will mean for the future of America.
Herzberg sees the show as a call to action for ordinary people to become more civically engaged.
“It’s been fun, and wonderfully challenging, to do my own deep dive into history I’ve not paid much attention to, but should have: of this amazing living, breathing document; of how we can actively engage in the civics of this country; of how the only way to truly engage with our future is to engage with our past; of how powerful even one voice can be,” she says, adding that TheatreSquared’s intimate Spring Theatre is a perfect venue for this highly relevant show.
The lead role of Heidi will be played by Kelsey Venter in her TheatreSquared debut. This production also features Bruch Thomas Reed (Sundown Town) as the Legionnaire, as well as local high school students Manvitha Narasimhan and Alise Whitfield as the Debaters.
Production staff includes Scenic and Lighting Designer Shawn Irish, Costume Designer Jennifer McClory, Sound Designer PA Worthington, Props Lead Sophia DeGuzman, Production Stage Manager Emely Zepeda, and Assistant Stage Manager Amber Holley.
“Shows like What the Constitution Means to Me are so vital in our conversations with the world around us and with one another,” says TheatreSquared Executive Director Shannon A. Jones. “We’re so thrilled to kick off 2024 with this brilliant and vibrant piece of theatre—audiences won’t want to miss it!”
Tickets
Performances of What the Constitution Means to Me are scheduled Tues-Sat at 7:30pm, and Sat and Sun at 2pm at TheatreSquared’s Spring Theatre on 477 W. Spring Street in downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas. Tickets range from $43 -$68. All fees are included, with no additional charges at checkout.
Subscription packages for TheatreSquared include full seven-play packages starting at $199, with four play flex packages starting at $128. Benefits for season ticket holders include savings of up to 20% on every show, free unlimited exchanges, discounted reserved parking, and same-day discounts on T2 merchandise and in The Commons Bar/Café.
Through T2’s Lights Up! For Access program, supported by the Walmart Foundation, SNAP benefit recipients can purchase $1 tickets, while students and patrons under the age of 30 can purchase $15 tickets. Fully subsidized, free tickets are also available for clients of a number of local community service organizations. For more information, visit theatre2.org/lights-up.
Subscription packages and single tickets can be reserved by calling TheatreSquared at (479) 777-7477 or by visiting theatre2.org/subscribe.
About TheatreSquared
TheatreSquared’s signature offering of bold new plays in an intimate setting has driven its growth to become the state’s largest theater, offering more than 350 performances annually in an intimate setting. Its pioneering work has been recognized with the 2022 Obie Award as well as critical acclaim from The New York Times (“Best Theater of 2020” list), The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal. The playwright-led company is one of mid-America’s leading laboratories for new work, having launched more than 70 new plays. Notable collaborators have included Candrice Jones, Bryna Turner, The Kilbanes, Sarah Gancher, José Cruz Gonzales, Mary Kathryn Nagle, Qui Nguyen, Mona Mansour, Amy Evans, and many others. TheatreSquared’s home—winner of the 2021 International Architecture Award—is a cultural landmark. Offering far-reaching access and education programs and an open-all-day gathering space, the Commons Bar/Café, TheatreSquared remains rooted in its founding vision, that “theater—done well and with passion—can transform lives and communities.”
Major funding for the TheatreSquared Season 18 is provided by the Walton Family Foundation; the Walmart Foundation; the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation; the Windgate Foundation; the Shubert Foundation; the Tyson Family Foundation; the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage; the National Endowment for the Arts; Bob and Becky Alexander; Jane Hunt; Barbara Shadden; Todd Simmons and Melissa Hall Simmons; and Simmons Foods.
Marketing support for TheatreSquared Season 18 is provided by Experience Fayetteville, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Fayetteville Flyer, 3W Magazine, CitiScapes, KUAF, 5NEWS, MailCo USA, iHeart Radio, and NWA Daily.
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