GhostLight Theatre will team with the University of Notre Dame to bring the acclaimed and unusually personal play What the Constitution Means to Me to its black box theatre in downtown Benton Harbor.
The production opens Friday, Sept. 18, and continues through Sunday, Sept. 27, at GhostLight, 101 Hinkley St. It is directed by Matt Hawkins and sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Berrien and Cass Counties.
Written by Heidi Schreck, What the Constitution Means to Me grew out of the playwright’s own experiences competing in Constitutional debate contests as a teenager. The play revisits that 15-year-old version of Schreck while connecting the nation’s founding document with her own family history, including the story of her great-great-grandmother.
The result blends humor, history and personal storytelling while raising questions about how the Constitution has affected — and continues to affect — the lives of Americans.
The play had a sold-out Broadway run in 2019 and received nominations for both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. According to GhostLight, it was also the most-produced play in the country during the 2024-25 season.
This will not be the first time the Notre Dame team has brought the production to the stage. Hawkins said the university first produced the play in 2023, with Schreck herself attending in support of that production. The collaboration has since continued to share the play with audiences, and now brings it to Benton Harbor.
The production will feature Stacy Stoltz in the demanding central role of Heidi, Sofia Pate as the Debater and Hawkins as the Legionnaire. Pate provides a particularly local connection, coming from the Benton Harbor/GhostLight Theatre community.
Hawkins is directing the production, with set design by Marcus Stephens, lighting design by Collin Wagner and stage management by Kyle McAndrew and Vel Gearhart.
The approximately 90-minute production will be presented without an intermission and is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material and language.
GhostLight will also add post-show talkback panels following both Sunday matinees, giving audience members an opportunity to continue the conversation prompted by the play.
The Sept. 20 discussion, expected to begin at approximately 4:30 p.m., will be moderated by League of Women Voters of Berrien and Cass Counties President Sarah Warner and feature Beverly Woodson, president of the Niles-Buchanan NAACP, and Amanda Villa, Michigan State Director for the UFW Foundation.
The Sept. 27 panel, also moderated by Warner, will feature Gerik Maverick, interim executive director of the OutCenter, and attorney Mark Brewer, a partner with Goodman Acker.
Weeknight doors open at 7 p.m., with Sunday matinee doors opening at 2:30 p.m. General admission tickets range from $20 to $32, while a limited number of two-person VIP tables are available for $85.
Tickets and additional information are available through GhostLight Theatre’s current season page.
GhostLight’s 2026 mainstage season will continue after What the Constitution Means to Me with One Party Consent, Oct. 15-25, followed by the musical Avenue Q in December.
For more information, visit GhostLight Theatre online or contact the theatre at 101 Hinkley St. in Benton Harbor.
