At a moment when Americans are wrestling with politics, history, and democracy itself, DECLARATION invites audiences to hear the nation’s founding text for the first time and for our time, with humor, vulnerability, curiosity and passion.  The play explores the shared human questions beneath civic life: purpose, ambition, failure, belonging, and what it means to live up to principles that remain both inspiring and unfinished.

“There is no better city than Philadelphia to ask what the Declaration still means for us today,” Torsella said. “There is no better venue than the Fringe to hear it anew, not as a quaint historical artifact but as the bold, demanding, and revolutionary document it was written to be. And, with democracy itself under threat, there is no better time to ask whether this 250 year old text still has something powerful and personal to say to all of us right now, and for all time. It’s a deeply personal story, but also a universal one. As my present for our nation’s 250th birthday, I hope it sparks conversation and commitment.”

The production also represents a full-circle moment for Torsella, whose career has long been intertwined with America’s founding documents. As the founding president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, he led the institution from concept through construction and opening in 2003, later returning for a second tenure as CEO. Now, after years helping Americans engage with the nation’s civic history, he approaches those same ideas as a playwright and performer.