Corridor play debates ‘What the Constitution Means to Me’

Past meet present in “What the Constitution Means to Me,” the latest provocative production from Crooked Path Theatre, a troupe founded by theater professionals Dr. Christopher Okiishi and Patrick Du Laney of Iowa City.

They describe Crooked Path as “Astonishing. Illuminating. Rigorous.” The same can be said for Heidi Schreck’s 2019 Tony-nominated “Constitution” play, making its Iowa premiere at The James Theater in Iowa City from Jan. 19 to 28, then at Mirrorbox Theatre in Cedar Rapids from Feb. 2 to 4.

Director Jody Hovland of Iowa City described it as “a memoir play,” in which Robyn Calhoun, 58, of Iowa City, plays both 15-year-old Heidi and middle-aged Heidi, showing an evolution of what the Constitution means to this major voice in the play. And by “major,” Calhoun carries the bulk of show on her shoulders.

It’s a tour de force not only in memorization, but in physical and emotional interpretation, as well as concentration.

Teenage Heidi is crossing the country, participating in American Legion oration contests focusing on the Constitution, in both prepared and off-the-cuff speaking. She ends up earning enough prize money to pay for college.

But as Heidi ages, the points about which she was so passionate begin to resonate in very different ways, as she discovers how the document and its amendments have echoed through her female lineage, from her great-great-grandmother to today — as well as its implications for the future.

Challenges

Time-hopping presents a special kind of challenge, since Calhoun doesn’t leave the stage to change clothes or alter her physical appearance. The change comes vocally.

“(Heidi) is a very enthusiastic person, no matter what age she is, but particularly at 15, she’s a very high-energy, very enthusiastic lover of the Constitution and a very, very dynamic public speaker, because that’s what she loves to do so much,” Calhoun said. “Whereas the adult Heidi, though she’s still enthusiastic, is a more kind of calm person most of the time, a little more contemplative, although she does lose it emotionally once in a while.”

Joining Calhoun for the ride are Matthew James, 45, of Iowa City, as the Legionnaire running the contests, and Norah Kauper, 17, of Iowa City, a high school junior who is making her stage debut doing what she does in real life on the City High debate team. Even stage manager Kelly Shriver of Cedar Rapids, who also will be running the lights, has a line, which she said is “very exciting.”

For the debate between the teens, the Legionnaire will flip a coin at each performance, to see which side they take. That means they have to memorize both roles. Yet another aspect to keep the actors on their toes.

This also is a play that breaks the theatrical Fourth Wall, in which an actor speaks directly to the audience. Calhoun does that throughout the play.

“I’m telling them the stories of what has happened,” she said. “Very rarely do I interact with the other person on the stage.” Until that ending debate.

The audience doesn’t get to just sit back and relax, either. A bit of participation also will be in the mix, Hovland said.

Besides being an accomplished actor and director, Hovland brings a wealth of personal experience to guiding this show. As an actor during Riverside Theatre’s on-screen pandemic production of “Midnight Your Time” in November 2020, she spoke directly to viewers.

“One thing I learned from doing (the virtual show) was that there was absolutely no barrier between the actor and the imagined audience. And I had to imagine them, because this was all videotaped, of course,” Hovland said.

“But that intimacy that it allows you is really thrilling, on both sides of the camera. And for Robyn, she doesn’t have to imagine, because she’s got the audience right in front of her. She’s very eager for that audience to be someone besides me and Kelly.

“But it is just an incredibly honest, confidential conversation that she’s having in a public space. And it requires a simplicity and a directness that Robyn has, and that I think people will feel very personally included in her stories.”

Hovland, 73, saved a giant gem for near the end of a recent roundtable Zoom conversation between The Gazette and the “Constitution” players and staff. She placed second in the nation in the American Legion’s Constitution oratory contest during her high school years in Minnesota.

“I did make money for college,” she said. Directing the play has been “fascinating, because the contest still exists. It’s been around since the ’30s, and the structure sounds pretty much the same.

“I certainly remembered some things about those prepared speeches. What I remember least of all is the improvisation, where you pull an amendment out of the hat, and you have to speak on one of a limited number of amendments,” Hovland said.

“I think the reason I don’t have distinct memories of that is that the process was so terrifying to me, because it’s one thing to memorize a speech. It’s quite another to speak off the top of your head, like debaters do all the time. That was the really scary part (for) me,” she said.

“So I think that informs how Robyn and I worked on those sections — What’s the delivery like? And how might it be different from giving a prepared speech, for example.”

And for James, the lone male among the cast, director and designers, the experience has been “awesome. It’s fantastic,” he said. “I tend to flock towards female-driven productions, whether it’s the content or the production team. Maybe it’s because I grew up with two sisters, but it feels just like home, so it’s been good.”

As audiences leave the show, Hovland hopes “they’re just talking about it — when they leave, when they wake up in the morning, when they encourage their friends to see it.”

Calhoun sees her final line as “a call to action. And I think that is a good way to wrap up the show. Things kind of suck right now, but there’s a future for all of us if we take action, and we recognize the issues.”

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com