Thunder River Theatre’s next show, “What the Constitution Means to Me” focuses on a woman’s reflection of her relationship with the Constitution, and what it was like when she was a teenager earning scholarship money by giving speeches on the same document.
KDNK News Director Hattison Rensberry spoke with several cast and crew about the show, beginning with Director Cassidy Willey and how she connects to the production.
Willey: There are three actors in the production, but it leans very heavily on the character of Heidi, who's played by Missy Moore. And, so, in that sense, it's not a solo show, but it does require a lot of Missy as an actor. Uh, so, I mean, having had that experience myself of being a solo actress, solo performer on stage carrying a show for 45 minutes. I think that I have some empathy for what Missy's going through just as far as lines as well as the emotional lift of it and how much she has to carry that, build that, sustain it. Let us as the audience share in that experience with her as well.
Rensberry: Speaking of Missy Moore, what is the hardest part about this process for you, having to portray someone who wrote this show and originally performed it as an autobiographical piece?
Missy Moore: I mean, obviously learning the play, you know, and getting to a point within the flow of the show where Missy, the actor, and the conduit really It does become the storyteller and the story itself becomes the relevant piece.
It's a lot of lines. It's a lot of memorization, but as an actor, I have always been drawn to pieces that terrify me and it's, it's terrifying in the best possible way, you know, to have that moment in rehearsal when you're like, Oh yeah, actually I can do this. I know how to do this. I've trained my entire life to do it. You know, it's just a matter of getting out of my own way to make that happen. I have to say this is probably one of the denser plays that I've ever memorized. There's major sections of the play where I have to recall the exact verbiage of an amendment. It's been a beautiful challenge.
Rensberry: Emily, let's jump to you real quick. The Constitution is often referenced in regards to specific interpretations. What are some points of interpretation that your team is focusing on?
Emily Henley: I think with anything that does have a heavy density of information, as a creative team we're really leaning into where the humor can be found in the piece, where levity and hope can be found. In the piece where moments of connection between Heidi's character and the Legionnaire and the bond of their relationship can be sourced and a point of hope for the audience. Being in the rehearsal room, I mean, in such a textually dense piece, to me, I've been comparing it a lot to Shakespeare in that it's a heightened language, but there's a musicality to it. There's a flow, there's a rhythm, there's. A through line through the entire piece and finding that rhythm, finding the tension, finding the peaks and the valleys, as well as the full emotional spectrum has been really, really fulfilling and really beautiful to discover as a female ensemble.
Rensberry: Women were really only given the opportunity to vote about a hundred years ago, give or take, how does that make you look at the constitution in a way that might be different from how your male colleagues are looking at this show?
Moore: That’s one of the things that drew me to this play because it asks that very question. You know, how can Over half of our country's population, not be truly represented in the founding documents of our country. I mean, it's, she talks about it in this play and it is one that I hope will ignite fire in these audiences to want to seek change because at the end of the day, women have every right to change. Right. To be here. Every right.
Henley: I would simply add to that. One of the other quotes from the show was, we all belong in the preamble. And I think this show does a really great job to, to the men that are interested in what the female experience looks like across multiple generations, experiencing our society through this document. And for the curious men out there, I think it'll be really enlightening. And I hope equally as empowering to them as well.
Willey: Yeah, first and foremost, I think it was interesting throughout this process, the difference between positive rights and negative rights in a constitution and the fact that essentially in our constitution, the positive rights are listed in the bill of rights, but in the subsequent amendments, it's more negative rights and negative rights are illuminating things that you can't do rather than protecting you, like positive rights, which a lot of modern democracies and a lot of democracies around the world have remade their constitutions. They do focus more on positive rights constitutions. What rights do we have? What rights do we have as far as gender protections, equality, um, access to health care, those sorts of fundamental human rights that are not established in our constitution.
The fact that we have more regulations on our uteruses than we have on guns is a big deal. And I know that's a politically charged statement in our country, but it shouldn't be because over the half of the population has a uterus in working on this play. It was really interesting. with Chris Wheatley, who's been amazing.
He taught the constitution for many years. He taught debate for several decades. Um, this play was meant for him in a lot of ways. And in a lot of our conversations, I think he had some big realizations of what life is like as women, that even as a man who supports women deeply and believes in women, Even then, I felt like he'd be the first to admit that he's had a lot of learning throughout this process and a lot of aha moments to how do we navigate the world and why based on, based on our own physical safety, based on the choices that we can and can't make, nobody can fight the fight alone.
We have to have support. We have to be there for one another. So yeah. Even if and when our experiences are different, the only way that's going to change is if we all show up together to make that change and to stand loudly for that change.
The show opens September 13th, and runs until September 29th. Tickets and more information are available at Thunder River Theatre's website
