Timing is everything. So “What The Constitution Means To Me,” currently playing at the Round House Theatre in Bethesda, could not come at a more appropriate time given recent events.
The play, starring Kimberly Gilbert and Michael Glenn and directed by Morgan Gould, examines the Constitution and how it has impacted four generations of the lead character’s family. It was written by Heidi Schreck who played herself in the show when it debuted in 2017. As a teenager, Schreck traveled across America, earning her college tuition by winning constitutional debate competitions.
The show tackles women’s issues and rights, immigration, domestic abuse and citizenship rights.
Gilbert grew up in Pennsylvania but has lived in the D.C. area for about 25 years. She graduated from the Academy of Classical Acting at the Shakespeare Theatre in D.C. and has performed at the majority of theaters in D.C., including 18 shows during the past 20 years at Woolly Mammoth.
MCM reporter Suzanne Pollak recently talked to Gilbert about the show.
In the last part of the play, Gilbert sheds her character to play herself and debates a local high school student about the Constitution. Depending on the night, either Fadekemi Laniyonu from Richard Montgomery High School or Kat Pascual from Fairfax Academy takes on the role of debating Gilbert.
Fadekemi Laniyonu
The show’s casting director Sarah Cooney reached out to all of the schools in the area they could find that had either a theater program/teacher or a debate club and asked them to share the information with any students that they thought might be interested.
In addition to schools, Cooney did a deep dive into national debate and public speaking programs/camps for high school students, and reached out to them as well in the hopes that they would share this information with any students that have participated in their programs that are based in the area.
Both Laniyonu and Pascual were told of the opportunity by teachers in their respective schools (Richard Montgomery High School and Fairfax Academy). They, along with other interested students, submitted a self-taped audition. After reviewing the tapes, they invited a group of students for an in-person callback with Gould, and it was from those in-person auditions that the two students were chosen.
The show runs through Feb. 16. Attendees get a pocket version of the U.S. Constitution.
Photos courtesy Round House Theater
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