This preview article originally appeared in The Star & Wave newspaper on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.
Cape May Stage Explores Rights and Wrongs in U.S. Constitution
By Lynn Martenstein
Fifteen-year-old Heidi Schreck was a gifted high school debater whose oratory skills extolling the virtues of the U.S. Constitution won national American Legion contests that paid for her entire college education.
By age 46, she was an accomplished playwright and actor, who wrote and starred in “What the Constitution Means to Me,” an autobiographical play inspired by her early success as a debater. This time, however, she had a bone to pick with our country’s founding fathers, who failed to include any rights and protections for women and minorities in the document.
Schreck’s play debuted on Broadway in 2019. A massive hit, it was a Pulitzer Prize in Drama finalist, Tony Award for Best Play nominee, and Obie winner for Best New Play in America. It also drew two of the country’s highest female officeholders—Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—to the theater to see the show, both of whom followed up with the playwright.
The play opens with Schreck’s exuberant victory in the American Legion competition in Wenatchee, Washington, her home town. It quickly fast-forwards to Schreck as an adult, who shares deeply personal stories with the audience about how many of the women in her family suffered from depression or were victims of sexual assault. Unfortunately, the Constitution offered them little recourse.
The play swings back into competition mode later in the show when Schreck stages another contest with much higher stakes. The topic is “Do we keep the Constitution or abolish it?”
This match pits Schreck’s character against a talented local teenager, Willow Ruiz, who is making her debut as a professional actor in this production. The debaters are randomly assigned roles dictating whether they are “pro” or “con” in their arguments, and the audience serves as the “jury.” It’s a clever device and it works. Ultimately, a member of the audience chooses the winner.
“Engaging the audience is a trend in theater and our production encourages patrons to be part of the storytelling,” said Roy Steinberg, Cape May Stage’s artistic producing director.
The set for this play is deliberately austere, depicting a nondescript meeting hall simply furnished with a small table, a few chairs, a podium, an American flag and walls crisply lined with black-and-white photos of local veterans. Once again, the theater’s award-winning scenic designer, Josh Iacovelli, captures the time and the place perfectly.
Three talented cast members breathe life into this orderly space. Amanda Baxter captures Schreck’s fervor and grit as both the student orator and the established playwright. Ron Bagden is effective, doubling as the contest’s exacting moderator and trusted friend of the grown-up Schreck, and 14-year-old Ruiz gives a standout performance as a debater. Hers is the voice of change in the play, and she is highly persuasive.
Baxter performed at Cape May Stage in 2024, playing three supporting roles in “Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson—Apt. 2B”—a doctor, landlord and sex worker. She is equally versatile playing the younger and older Schreck.
“This play is incredibly relevant today,” she explained, “I am honored and grateful to be able to use my art in the service of a meaningful social dialogue.”
Baxter brushed up on the U.S. Constitution and consulted a Constitutional scholar to prepare for her role. She also ramped up her exercise regiment to build up her stamina for her role, which is very physical.
“The framers of our Constitution could not possibly have predicted all that would come up in the centuries after they drafted our nation’s founding charter,” she added. “I don’t think they could ever have imagined where we would end up today.”
Ruiz is considering a career in acting. “I thought that this would be a good opportunity to grow as an actress and in my craft,” she said. “I’ve never done a show that’s as real as this one, or that dealt with such important issues. I appreciate that we’re exploring ways to make things better. It’s a promising beginning.”
“What the Constitution Means to Me” runs through June 28. Given the play’s mature subject matter, I would not recommend it for young people under the age of 16. For tickets or more information about this play, please call the theater at (609) 770-8311 or visit capemaystage.org.