“What the Constitution Means to Me,” is a thought-provoking play written by Heidi Schreck. It reflects the impact of the U.S. Constitution on our individual lives and society as a whole. This is Schreck’s personal story as a teenager competing in Constitution debates interwoven with her perspective on how the Constitution has shaped her life, centering on women's rights, personal autonomy and systemic inequalities.  The play culminates in a debate format, inviting the audience to consider what the Constitution means to them. It's a compelling examination of the ongoing struggle for justice and equality in America.

I was fortunate to interview Charlotte Kinder, the lead actor in the role of Heidi Schreck, Currently on Stage at the Wilbury Theatre Group in Providence.  Charlotte is a native Rhode Islander, a graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the UK, and a member of the Actors’ Equity Association. As well as performing roles at The Wilbury Theatre Group, her credits include Trinity Rep, Gloucester Stage, Moonbox Productions, O.W.I (Bureau of Theater) and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company.

Ida Zecco: What drew you to this play and what does it mean to you?

Charlotte Kinder: I think the first thing that drew me to it was Heidi’s humor, vulnerability, her heart and her family’s story.  She was real and relatable for me in a script that included a mix of facts, reality and the burden she carried regarding her family’s history.  Because I just had a baby, I was not planning on working on a production until after the first of the year, but this play caught me.  I immediately identified with it.  It was like putting on a great pair of jeans.

IZ: I saw the play last night. This is a monster script for any actor.  What is your technique in digesting a script of this proportion?

CK: I agreed to take this role three weeks before going into rehearsal.  I separated the script into three pages of memorization per day. I recorded three pages on my phone the night before, listened to them throughout the following day and then memorized them, like I would with a song.  My brain kept saying, “There is no other option — we WILL learn this, and we WILL do it.”  

IZ: From the outset of the play, the fourth wall disappears.  Tell me about how you confront this role without the fourth wall.

CK: I love not having a fourth wall. I felt very comfortable.  The foundation of my training is Shakespeare and his writing permits breaking the fourth wall, using the audience.  Something comes alive in me.  When I entered on opening night and said, “Hi, I’m Heidi,” the audience responded back, “Hi.” And it felt so real, comforting and connected.  Every night I relish taking in the responses from everyone sitting out there in front of me.  I love the spontaneous reactions from the audience, it is really fun.

IZ: Tell me about your experience at the Wilbury Theatre Group and with your director, Brian Lang.

CK: The vibe at the Wilbury is wonderful.  I can’t say enough
good things about this theatre.  I first met Brian Lang a few years back, when I was cast for “The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart” but life happened, and we never staged the production.  So, when Brian cast me for this role, I felt safe with him as the director; especially with a script that was so authentic and vulnerable.  Here, I am not only respected as an actor, but this theatre gets that you have a life.  It is fiercely respectful of the balance between a personal life and working. I feel very much at home here.

IZ: Do you have a personal connection to this play?

CK: More and more connections come up every time I perform this play.  What Heidi gets fired up about, I get fired up, too.  When Heidi speaks about the women in her family, I thought about the women in my life and the sacrifices they made as mothers. Yes, I think a lot about my mother during this show.

IZ: At the end of the production, playing yourselves and not characters, you and Hayley Pezza (Teen Debater) asked each other questions to know more about each other.  Why was this important?  It could have ended with the debate.

CK: We all discussed what that was about.  To me, much of the context of the play is about the Constitution and a debate about the Constitution.  This was a moment in the play when we did not measure ourselves as citizens of the Constitution but communicating and regarding ourselves as human beings.

IZ: What do you want the audience to walk away with?

CK: I think I would like them to walk away with a deeper respect and honor for everyone’s humanity.  We need to have mutual understanding and equality for everyone.  I hope that men and women alike will feel like they have an equal place in the Constitution and in the world.  I want people to look at each other and say, “I want to hear your story, and to honor and respect that story, no matter who you are or where you come from.”

IZ: Any last words you would like to add?

CK: I would like to add that doing this play without the support of my family would have been impossible.  I have two young children at home.  My husband, Ben, has been so supportive and there for all of us every minute of the day.  I am so grateful to Ben.  I could not have done it without him.

More about Charolotte Kinder: https://charlottekinder.com/