What the Constitution Means To Me: BlueBarn’s Powerful Season Opener

October 7th, 2025

BlueBarn Theatre kicks off its 37th season with What the Constitution Means to Me, a personal work by playwright Heidi Schreck. Framed as a high school oratory contest, the play revisits Schreck’s teenage years competing in constitutional debate competitions — and expands into a heartfelt exploration of her interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and how it has shaped her life and the lives of those around her.

Katie Beck Colón stars as Heidi in this intimate and thought-provoking production. “I think the show is hilarious, heartbreaking, hopeful, and challenging — and that’s really in alignment with BlueBarn’s mission: provoking thought, emotion, action, and change,” says Colón.

For Colón, the role feels deeply personal. “This play feels so timely, and that’s a powerful thing — to be in a certain place at a certain time,” she shares. Drawing from her own life experiences, Colón helps bring to life the play’s central message: that the Constitution is not a distant, historical document in our modern times but rather something we can better understand in our lives.

“I want audiences to feel empowered to do something,” Colón says. “One of the main messages, particularly at the end of the play, is about democracy. When we feel disempowered, that’s not the truth. The truth is, there’s always something we can do.”

What the Constitution Means to Me runs at BlueBarn Theatre through October 12. More information is available at bluebarn.org.