The Theater Project Presents Staged Reading of Marriage Equality Play “8” for One Night Only on Friday, November 16.
Monday, October 22, 2012 • 6:01pm
It took the issue of marriage equality to get attorneys David Boies and Theodore Olson working on the same side of a legal case. In 2000, when the United States Supreme Court had in effect to decide whether George W. Bush or Al Gore would become President, Boies represented Gore and Olson represented Bush. Now the one-time adversaries have been working together in a successful legal challenge to California's Proposition 8, the ballot initiative which stripped gay and lesbian Californians of the fundamental freedom to marry.
The Theater Project, an award-winning New Jersey theater company, is proud to announce, with license from the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact, a one-night-only reading of “8,” a play chronicling the historic trial in that federal constitutional challenge to Proposition 8, written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter and AFER Founding Board Member Dustin Lance Black.
The reading will bring together twenty Theater Project actors on a single stage, and will be directed by Artistic Director Mark Spina, who was awarded a 2012 best director award by the Star-Ledger. It will take place on November 16 at the Burgdorff Center for the Performing Arts in Maplewood, NJ. Tickets ($20) may be reserved by calling 973.763.4029 or purchased through The Theater Project website, www.thetheaterproject.org.
Black, who penned the Academy Award-winning feature film Milk and the film J. Edgar, based “8” on the actual words of the trial transcripts in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown), the legal challenge filed by AFER to overturn Proposition 8, as well as first-hand observations of the courtroom drama and interviews with the plaintiffs and their families.
The reading will be followed by a talk back at which audience members will be able to discuss the issues illuminated by "8" with marriage equality activists.
“8” had its much-heralded Broadway world premiere on September 19, 2011, at the sold-out Eugene O’Neill Theatre in New York City, a production which brought in over $1 million to support AFER’s efforts to achieve full federal marriage equality. “8” had its West Coast premiere reading in March in Los Angeles. The reading featured an all-star cast led by Golden Globe Award-winner and Academy and Emmy Award-nominee Brad Pitt, Academy and Golden Globe Award-winner and Emmy Award-nominee George Clooney and Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Martin Sheen The benefit reading, directed by AFER Founding Board Member Rob Reiner, raised more than $2 million.
The story for “8” is framed by the trial’s historic closing arguments in June 2010, and features the best arguments and testimony from both sides. Scenes include flashbacks to some of the more jaw-dropping moments of trial, such as the admission by the Proposition 8 supporters’ star witness, David Blankenhorn, that “we would be more American on the day we permitted same-sex marriage than we were on the day before.”
“People need to witness what happened in the Proposition 8 trial, if for no other reason than to see inequality and discrimination unequivocally rejected in a court of law where truth and facts matter,” said playwright Dustin Lance Black. “The goal of ‘8’ is to show the world that marriage equality is a basic constitutional right. The facts are on our side and truth always finds the light. AFER and Broadway Impact are doing all we can to help speed that process along.”
On February 7, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a landmark decision upholding the historic August 2010 ruling of the Federal District Court that found Proposition 8 unconstitutional. The Ninth Circuit concluded
The reading will be followed by a talk back at which audience members will be able to discuss the issues illuminated by "8" with marriage equality activists.
“8” had its much-heralded Broadway world premiere on September 19, 2011, at the sold-out Eugene O’Neill Theatre in New York City, a production which brought in over $1 million to support AFER’s efforts to achieve full federal marriage equality. “8” had its West Coast premiere reading in March in Los Angeles. The reading featured an all-star cast led by Golden Globe Award-winner and Academy and Emmy Award-nominee Brad Pitt, Academy and Golden Globe Award-winner and Emmy Award-nominee George Clooney and Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winner Martin Sheen The benefit reading, directed by AFER Founding Board Member Rob Reiner, raised more than $2 million.
The story for “8” is framed by the trial’s historic closing arguments in June 2010, and features the best arguments and testimony from both sides. Scenes include flashbacks to some of the more jaw-dropping moments of trial, such as the admission by the Proposition 8 supporters’ star witness, David Blankenhorn, that “we would be more American on the day we permitted same-sex marriage than we were on the day before.”
“People need to witness what happened in the Proposition 8 trial, if for no other reason than to see inequality and discrimination unequivocally rejected in a court of law where truth and facts matter,” said playwright Dustin Lance Black. “The goal of ‘8’ is to show the world that marriage equality is a basic constitutional right. The facts are on our side and truth always finds the light. AFER and Broadway Impact are doing all we can to help speed that process along.”
On February 7, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a landmark decision upholding the historic August 2010 ruling of the Federal District Court that found Proposition 8 unconstitutional. The Ninth Circuit concluded
“Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort.”
Throughout 2012, AFER and Broadway Impact are licensing “8” for free to colleges and community theatres nationwide in order to spur action, dialogue and understanding. Spina, the reading's director, noted that The Theater Project decided to offer the reading because "The Theater Project has always believed that society evolves through storytelling. We strive to be part of that process, and “8” is a perfect opportunity."
For information on productions of “8” nationwide, visit: www.8theplay.com .Visit TheTheaterProject.org, to order tickets for the 8 PM, November 16 staged reading of “8” at the Burgdorff Cultural Center, 10 Durand Road, Maplewood, NJ, or call 973 763.4029.
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