Dustin Lance Black (screenwriter of Milk) and director Rob Reiner collaborated to produce a play called 8 about the court battle over California’s Proposition 8 ballot initiative against same-sex marriage. An incredible star-studded reading of the play in California on Saturday was recorded and is available on YouTube.
I am utterly transfixed. And you can be too — see below.
From the YouTube page:
Featuring an all-star cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Lynch, Kevin Bacon and others, “8” is a play written by Academy Award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black and directed by acclaimed actor and director Rob Reiner. It is a powerful account of the case filed by the American Federation for Equal Rights (AFER ) in the U.S. District Court in 2010 to overturn Proposition 8 [LINK], a constitutional amendment that eliminated the rights of same-sex couples to marry in the state of California. Framed around the trial’s historic closing arguments in June 2010, 8 provides an intimate look what unfolded when the issue of same-sex marriage was on trial.
And here it is… the video itself. You’ll need to skip ahead to about 18 minutes in:
Bravo. BRAVO.
I am stunned by the cast that they pulled together for this reading. And even though the video recording of the trial isn’t available due to court decisions on the matter, I think this play (crafted from the written record of the closing arguments at the Prop 8 trial) is arguably more powerful than the video of actual testimony itself could have been.
Seeing these phenomenal actors reading the court record is compelling and moving, and I have to share a heartfelt (and nearly tearful) congratulations to everyone involved.
