What the Constitution Means to Me
Sound Design and Original Music
Performances: September/October 2023
Audience Count: 2,567
Performances: 20
Regional Premiere
Playwright: Heidi Schreck
Director: Brian Robertson
Asst. Sound Design: Kaitlin Barnett
Lighting Design: Brian Mehring
Costume Design: Chad Phillips
Scenic Design: Brian Mehring
Properties Coordinator: Shannon Rae Lutz
Description of company:
Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati is a professional theatre located in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. This fixture of the Cincinnati theatre community focuses on new works, staging a great deal of world and regional premieres. The theatre employs professional Equity (union) actors and professional designers from across the United States. The theatre is an end stage configuration with a steep seating rake and an audience capacity of 192 for each performance.
Synopsis
"Following a smash run on Broadway, Heidi Schreck’s timely, hilarious and deeply felt play breathes new life into our country’s most important document. Fifteen-year-old Heidi Schreck paid her college tuition by speaking in debate competitions across the country; now older, she tells the story of four generations of extraordinary women in her family whose lives were shaped by the Constitution.” from The Huntington
Design Statement
Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me does not on its face require a large sound design. Though the show is meta-theatrical (regional productions have an actor playing Heidi playing versions of herself for instance), it is a straightforward trajectory through the show. The character of Heidi looks to the next generation in part to answer the question inherent in the title. I chose to frame the show with music that sounded current and energetic, taking inspiration from the theme of Patriot Act with Hassan Minhaj and trap remixes of traditional patriotic songs. Original music supported the initial entrance of Heidi and the entrance of our debater, Sydni Charity Solomon with distinct themes.
I was able–with the help of asst. sound designer Kaitlin Barnett–to design preshow and postshow music with great attention to detail. We had an eclectic array of songs, some provided by the director, and worked until we found an organizing framework to stitch these disparate pieces of music together. We ultimately chose the static of an open analog television channel as if someone was turning an old rotary dial between channels. In addition to popular music across the last several decades, we also included some commercials and several bits lifted from America - You’re Too Young to Die by The Life Action Singers. Released on vinyl record in 1980, this patriotic pageant added a saccharine, squeaky clean counterpoint to some of the other material. When stage management announced five minutes to places, the preshow music moved into a buildup that accelerated to a climax right before the show started.
Bows at the end of the show kicked off with a trap remix I built of Kim Weston’s “This Is America,” off the 1968 concept album of the same name. I chose to counterpoint that with Childish Gambino’s 2018 hit “This Is America,” which played as the audience exited the theatre. The sound design matched the play well, effectively spanning decades, plumbing our national identity, while looking toward the exuberance of politically active youth.
"Matt was extremely helpful in sorting through the possibilities for sound design with our production of What the Constitution Means To Me. His insights into what palette fit with the specific personality that we were finding with the show, created a successful atmosphere for the intense audience participation, and consistently supported the personality of the lead actress telling the story."
Brian Robertson - Director of What the Constitution…
“Several audio clips from Supreme Court considerations of cases that deal with the central issues the show discusses demonstrate the garbled language and logic of contemporary justices who continue to demonstrate that there's plenty of room for more progress.”
Rick Pender - Talkin’ Broadway