Guthrie Theater

(Minneapolis/St. Paul) — The Guthrie Theater (Joseph Haj, Artistic Director) is pleased to be the first stop on the national tour of Heidi Schreck’s critically acclaimed memoir play What the Constitution Means to Me, directed by Oliver Butler and starring Broadway, film and TV actor Cassie Beck (Amazon Prime Video’s “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” The Humans on Broadway). Performances run September 30, 2021, to October 24, 2021, on the McGuire Proscenium Stage. Single tickets start at $15 for preview performances (September 30 to October 5), and regular ticket prices range from $26 to $80. Tickets are on sale now through the Box Office at 612.377.2224, 1.877.447.8243 (toll-free) or online at guthrietheater.org. Accessibility services (ASL-interpreted, audio-described and open-captioned performances) are available on select dates and by request.

Playwright Heidi Schreck’s boundary-breaking play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will affect the next generation of Americans. Fifteen-year-old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the U.S. In this hilarious, hopeful and achingly human new play, she resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.

Schreck’s timely and galvanizing play, directed by Oliver Butler, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and became a sensation on Broadway where it received two Tony Award nominations among countless other accolades. The New York Times hailed it as “not just the best play to open on Broadway, but also the most important.” Initially announced for a 12-week engagement on Broadway, What the Constitution Means to Me was extended twice for a total run of 24 weeks. What the Constitution Means to Me officially opened March 31, 2019, after beginning preview performances March 14 and played its final Broadway performance on August 24, 2019. Following Broadway, What the Constitution Means to Me played a record-breaking run at the Eisenhower Theater at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as two engagements in Los Angeles and Chicago before halting performances due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What the Constitution Means to Me features scenic design by Rachel Hauck (Guthrie: Clybourne Park, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Broadway: Hadestown), costume design by Michael Krass (Guthrie: Appomattox, Major Barbara; Broadway: Hadestown), lighting design by Jen Schriever (Eclipsed) and sound design by Sinan Refik Zafar (Guthrie: Noura; Waterwell: Hamlet).

What the Constitution Means to Me was commissioned by True Love Productions. This production originated as part of Summerworks 2017, produced by Clubbed Thumb in partnership with True Love Productions. The national tour of What the Constitution Means to Me is produced by Diana DiMenna, Aaron Glick, Matt Ross, and Level Forward & Eva Price.

Heidi Schreck (Playwright) is a writer and performer living in Brooklyn. Her play What the Constitution Means to Me was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist and won the Obie Award and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play. She also received two Tony Award nominations for What the Constitution Means to Me (Best Play, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play) and the 2019 Benjamin Hadley Danks Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters. Her play Grand Concourse, which debuted at Playwrights Horizons and Steppenwolf Theatre, won the Stacey Mindich Lilly Award in 2015 and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Screenwriting credits include “I Love Dick,” “Billions” and “Nurse Jackie.” Schreck has also taught playwriting and screenwriting at New York University, Columbia University, Kenyon College and Primary Stages. She is the recipient of three Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, a Theatre World Award, the Horton Foote Playwriting Award and the Hull-Warriner Award from the Dramatists Guild.

Cassie Beck (Performer) plays series regular Courtney Thacker on Amazon Prime Video’s reboot of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Broadway credits include the recent revival of The Rose Tattoo, The Humans, Picnic and The Norman Conquests. Off-Broadway she has developed, created and performed roles at Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Atlantic Theater Company, Roundabout Theatre Company, Ars Nova, Classic Stage Company, WP Theater and others. Regionally, she has performed at Ahmanson Theatre, South Coast Repertory, The Huntington, Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival, Long Wharf Theatre and Williamstown Theatre Festival. During the pandemic, she recurred on NBC/Peacock’s original sitcom “Connecting …” Additional guest-star TV appearances include “Pose” on FX, “High Maintenance” on HBO, “Elementary” on CBS and “Chicago Med” on NBC. Beck also appears opposite Mark Wahlberg in the feature film Joe Bell.

Oliver Butler (Director) directed the Broadway and off-Broadway productions of What the Constitution Means to Me and currently serves as Co-Artistic Director of The Debate Society. Selected directing credits include The Light Years (Playwrights Horizons), Jacuzzi (Ars Nova), Blood Play (The Bushwick Starr), Buddy Cop 2 (Ontological Theater), Cape Disappointment (P.S. 122), You’re Welcome, The Eaten Heart, The Snow Hen, A Thought About Raya, Thom Pain (based on nothing) (Signature Theatre, Geffen Playhouse), The Amateurs (Vineyard Theatre), The Open House (Signature Theatre; Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play, Obie Award for Direction), The Plot (Yale Repertory Theatre), The Whistleblower (Denver Center), Legacy (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Bad Jews (Long Wharf Theatre) and An Opening in Time (Hartford Stage). Butler is a Sundance Institute Fellow and a Bill Foeller Fellow (Williamstown Theatre Festival).

Ticket Information
Single tickets for What the Constitution Means to Me range from $15 to $80 and are now on sale through the Box Office at 612.377.2224, 1.877.447.8243 (toll-free) or guthrietheater.org. Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more, seniors and students.

Health and Safety Information
As previously announced, all ticket holders must wear masks and show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative COVID-19 test to attend a performance at the Guthrie. Theaters will be sold to full capacity without social distancing. A complete list of Guthrie requirements for masking, vaccination and testing is available at www.guthrietheater.org/health.

Land Acknowledgment
The Guthrie Theater acknowledges that it resides on the traditional land of the Dakota People and honors with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations, including the Ojibwe and other Indigenous nations.

The GUTHRIE THEATER (Joseph Haj, Artistic Director) is an American center for theater performance in Minneapolis, Minnesota, dedicated to producing a mix of classic and contemporary plays and cultivating the next generation of theater artists. Under Haj’s leadership, the Guthrie is guided by four core values: Artistic Excellence; Community; Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; and Fiscal Responsibility. Since its founding in 1963, the theater has continued to set a national standard for excellence in the field and serve the people of Minnesota as a vital cultural resource. The Guthrie houses three state-of-the-art stages, production facilities, classrooms, restaurants and dramatic public spaces. guthrietheater.org