Event

In June, the Supreme Court of the United States will decide whether to accept the Mississippi law to ban abortions at 15 weeks, a decision which risks overturning nearly 50 years of settled law. The right to bodily autonomy is a fundamental human right, according to the United Nations, but does the US Constitution protect that right?

The Equal Rights Amendment has now been ratified by the required 38 states; however, it has not been accepted as part of the Constitution. So, is the Constitution really doing what it is meant to do?

Join the Penn Theatre Arts Program to engage with Heidi Schreck’s timely play, What the Constitution Means to Me to start the conversation of what this founding document means to you and to everyone in 2022. The staged reading features student actors along with McKenna Kerrigan, Visiting Lecturer in Theatre Arts.

Schreck’s boundary-breaking play breathes new life into our Constitution and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans. Fifteen-year-old Heidi earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. 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.  

What: Free Live Reading of the play, What the Constitution Means to Me

When: Thursday, April 7th at 6pm

Where: Bruce Montgomery Theatre, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

All members of the Penn community are welcome to attend this free performance,

Bonus! Saturday, April 9, 2022, 10:00am-noon: Join students from across the country and Heidi Schreck herself to discuss the play via Zoom! RSVP details will be provided at the reading.