The Constitution on trial in Morristown, two weekends only

The United States Constitution is in the news every day, it seems.

Tested. Challenged. Defied. Defended. A daily drama in courts across the land.

But will it play onstage?

In lesser hands, Heidi Schreck’s 2019 Pulitzer-nominated What the Constitution Means to Me could careen into 7th grade civics or cable show polemics.

But the gang at Pioneer Productions always punches above its weight. This local treasure troupe bites off what it thinks the audience can chew — and there is plenty to chew on this weekend and next, in the cozy confines of Fellowship Hall at the Morristown United Methodist Church.

Miriam Salerno (Lost in Yonkers, God of Carnage, Dinner with Friends) gives the performance of her life, portraying Schreck at 15 and all grown up, and then playing herself.

It’s a tour de force that poses a sobering question: Can a document hashed out more than two centuries ago by a bunch of rich old white guys protect the rights of all Americans in a diverse nation the framers would not recognize?

Last fall, Salerno co-directed Steel Magnolias, a moving production that made you feel.  This one makes you think.

The play was inspired by Schreck’s teenaged tour of Legion halls, where she earned her college tuition winning debates about the Constitution.

Dry amendments — Quick! Recite the Fourteenth, Section 1! — become humorously and often achingly real through family stories about their consequences. Specifically, the consequences of how these amendments have been interpreted over time by flawed, unelected, mostly old white men in robes.

There is judicious use — pardon the expression — of recorded snippets of Supreme Court colloquies. Some, like Justices Scalia and Breyer parsing the word “shall” in Castle Rock v. Gonzales, are shameful. In that 2005 decision, the high Court ruled a mother had no right to expect police to enforce a restraining order. All three of her daughters were murdered by their father.

Heavy stuff.

Yet the serious matter of whether to scrap a creaky Constitution and start from scratch is best tackled, it turns out, with a light touch.

A lightning round debate between Salerno and Morris Knolls High School student Ashlee Vissers — moderated with aplomb by Benjamin Weisman — is wickedly funny.

Vissers is the daughter of the play’s director, Dan Vissers. Clearly, she has inherited the family thespian genes.

So then, is the Constitution a failed experiment… or America’s last, best hope against tyranny?

What the Constitution Means to Me leaves that to you — if you are brave enough to put your assumptions to the test.

What the Constitution Means to Me plays on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 6, 7 and 8, 2026. Friday and Saturday performances start at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm. A special 10:30 am show is scheduled for Feb. 6. Tickets: $25-$30. The Morristown United Methodist Church is at 50 South Park Place.