8 (play)

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Stage work
Original title: 8th
Author: Dustin Lance Black
Premiere: September 19, 2011
Place: New York City
Theatre: Eugene O'Neill Theater on Broadway
Genus: Documentary theater
Original language: English
Director : Joe Mantello

8 is a play based on excerpts from the Perry v. Schwarzenegger represents. In this trial, Proposition 8 - an amendment that banned same-sex marriages in California - was ruled unconstitutional.

The play was written by Dustin Lance Black based on the court transcripts after the United States Supreme Court ruled that video recordings of the trial could not be broadcast. The premiere was on September 19, 2011 in New York City on Broadway .

background

In May 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that the then-existing law on same-sex marriage was against the California Constitution.

In November 2008 there was a referendum on Proposition 8 , introduced by opponents of same-sex marriage , which was supposed to enshrine a ban on same-sex marriage in the California constitution. The referendum found a majority, so that the constitutional amendment went into effect immediately. On May 26, 2009, the California Supreme Court ruled that this referendum was permitted under the California Constitution.

Four days earlier, on May 22, 2009, the recently established organization American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) filed a lawsuit on behalf of two same-sex couples in the federal district court in Northern California to check whether Proposition 8 was in line with the constitution United States is compatible. The couple were represented by attorneys David Boies and Theodore Olson , who were involved in the Bush v. Gore , who ruled the US presidential election in 2000 , ran against each other.

Judge Vaughn Walker ruled on August 4, 2010 that Proposition 8 violated the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The decision was initially suspended during the subsequent revisions (cf. Hollingsworth v. Perry ) and came into force on June 28, 2013.

content

The content of the play is made up of the arguments made by the prosecution and defense on the last day of the Perry v. Schwarzenegger . In several places where the pleadings relate to the testimony of a witness, excerpts from the hearing of the witness are shown in a flashback. In between, the play also contains scenes away from the trial, including several conversations between plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandra Stier with their sons, two television commercials for Proposition 8, and a dispute between Maggie Gallagher , who is President of the National Organization for Marriage for Proposition 8 and Evan Wolfson, who, as the founder of the organization Freedom to Marry, opposed Proposition 8.

Five prosecution witnesses appear in the play: The first is Nancy Cott, a history professor at Harvard University . Your statement explains the history of the term "marriage" and its historical meaning. The next witness is Ilan Mayer, Associate Professor of Social Medicine at Columbia University . It states that same-sex partnerships are not seen as equals to marriage and therefore cause stigmatization.

The third witness, Ryan Kendall, is homosexual and was forced to attend conversion therapy by his parents as a result. He reports on the psychological effects and says that, in his experience, it does not succeed in changing sexual orientation. Gregory Herek, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis , confirms in his testimony that a person's sexual orientation is immutable and not freely selectable.

The fifth witness is Gary Segura, professor of political science at Stanford University , who testifies that the political influence of gays and lesbians is low. The plaintiffs wanted to prove that homosexuals are a particularly vulnerable minority and that a law that deprives them of rights must therefore be subjected to particularly strict scrutiny.

Then two witnesses appear who are close to the defense. The first of these is William Tam, a co-initiator of Proposition 8. He claimed before the referendum that after same-sex marriage, incest and polygamy would also be legalized. In court he testified that this had already happened in the Netherlands - he had read it "on the Internet". Finally, David Blankenhorn, founder and president of the Think Tanks Institute for American Values, appears . First of all, he states that it is important for children that their biological parents are also their legal parents through marriage, and that the introduction of same-sex marriage would probably weaken the institution of marriage. However, he later stated that the introduction of same-sex marriage would likely improve the well-being of same-sex couples and their children.

After the final statements of the lawyers on both sides, the play ends with the four plaintiffs describing their hopes for the future.

Performances

8 was performed twice by AFER and Broadway Impact . It premiered on September 19, 2011 in New York City on Broadway. A second performance on March 3, 2012 in Los Angeles was broadcast live on the Internet, a recording of which was made available on YouTube. Compared to the premiere, some court scenes were deleted and replaced by conversations and stories by the complaining couples, based on their statements in court and from media appearances.

Many roles were played by well-known actors in both performances. The reporting focused primarily on the top-class cast, but also praised humorous and moving scenes in the play itself.

Both performances also served as fundraising events for AFER and raised donations totaling more than three million US dollars.

The characters appearing in the play and the actors who played them in the performances on Broadway and in Los Angeles are listed in the table below.

Surname role played by (Broadway) played by (LA)
Vaughn Walker Judge Bob Balaban Brad Pitt
Theodore Olson Prosecution attorneys John Lithgow Martin Sheen
David Boies Morgan Freeman George Clooney
Charles J. Cooper Defense lawyer Bradley Whitford Kevin Bacon
? Clerk Kate Shindle Vanessa García
Kris Perry Plaintiff Christine Lahti
Sandy bull Ellen Barkin Jamie Lee Curtis
Jeff Zarrillo Matt Bomer
Paul Katami Cheyenne Jackson Matthew Morrison
Spencer Perry Sons of the applicant Jay Armstrong Johnson Bridger Zadina
Elliot Perry Ben Rosenfeld Jansen Panettiere
Dr. Nancy Cott Prosecution witnesses Yeardley Smith
Dr. Gregory M. Herek K. Todd Freeman Rory O'Malley
Dr. Ilan Meyer Anthony Edwards Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Dr. Gary Segura Stephen Spinella James Pickens Jr.
Ryan Kendall Rory O'Malley Chris Colfer
David Blankenhorn Defense witnesses Rob Reiner John C. Reilly
William Tam Ken Leung George Takei
Evan Wolfson Founder of Freedom to Marry Larry Kramer Cleve Jones
Maggie Gallagher President of the National Organization for Marriage Jayne Houdyshell Jane Lynch
? Television journalist Campbell Brown

AFER and Broadway Impact make the piece available free of charge for readings under certain conditions. In early 2012, more than 40 readings were planned in various US states.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bob Morris, 'Hey, You Look Familiar'. In: New York Times, September 21, 2011, accessed August 27, 2014.
  2. ↑ Patrick Healy: Illuminating California's Proposition 8 Trial, Onstage. In: New York Times, July 17, 2011, accessed September 2, 2014.
  3. ↑ a b Chuleenan Svetvilas: Challenging Prop. 8: The Hidden Story. ( Memento of December 17, 2014 on the Internet Archive ) In: California Lawyer January 2010, accessed August 24, 2014.
  4. ^ Complaint, Perry v. Schwarzenegger (PDF) American Foundation for Equal Rights. May 22, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  5. ↑ Jesse McKinley: Bush v. Gore Foes Join to Fight Gay Marriage Ban . In: The New York Times , May 27, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2009. 
  6. ^ Willie Brown: Bush-Gore legal pair push gay marriage suit . In: San Francisco Chronicle , May 31, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2009. 
  7. ^ Vaughn Walker: Perry v. Schwarzenegger. (PDF; 351 kB) (No longer available online.) In: 704 F.Supp.2d 921 at 940 (ND Cal. 2010). August 4, 2010, archived from the original on March 16, 2013 ; accessed on August 24, 2014 .
  8. ^ Jennifer Medina: Gay Couples Who Sued in California Are Married. New York Times, June 28, 2013, accessed August 24, 2014.
  9. ^ Statement by Nancy Cott according to the transcript of the first day of the hearing , p. 184. January 11, 2010, accessed on September 2, 2014.
  10. ^ Statement by Ilan Mayer according to the transcript of the 4th day of the hearing , p. 809. January 14, 2010, accessed on September 2, 2014.
  11. ^ Statement by Gregory Herek according to the transcript of the 9th day of the hearing , p. 2019. January 22, 2010, accessed on September 2, 2014.
  12. ^ Testimony by Gary Segura according to the transcript of the 7th day of the hearing , p. 1524. January 20, 2010, accessed on September 2, 2014.
  13. ↑ In technical English one speaks of strict scrutiny (literally translated as "strict review"), there is no German equivalent due to the different legal system. See the article on strict scrutiny in Wikipedia .
  14. ^ "8": A Play about the Fight for Marriage Equality on YouTube. March 3, 2012, accessed August 24, 2014.
  15. ↑ a b David Ng: '8,' a play about Proposition 8, debuts March 3 in LA In: Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2011, accessed August 27, 2014.
  16. ↑ Los Angeles Times: Hollywood embraces Dustin Lance Black's Prop. 8 drama. March 5, 2012, accessed August 27, 2014.
  17. ↑ Michael Schulman: Do-over. In: The New Yorker, October 3, 2011, accessed August 27, 2014.
  18. ↑ Adam Nagournay, Brooks Barnes: Gay Marriage Effort Attracts a Novel Group of Donors. In: New York Times, March 23, 2012, accessed August 24, 2014.
  19. ↑ The Characters . American Foundation for Equal Rights. Archived from the original on January 11, 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  20. ↑ Press release: Full Casting for “8” Broadway Premiere Announced. ( Memento of February 27, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) September 15, 2011, accessed on August 25, 2014.
  21. ↑ Press release: All-Star Cast for West Coast Premiere of Dustin Lance Black's “8” Announced. ( Memento of March 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) January 18, 2012, accessed on August 25, 2014. (Brad Pitt is not mentioned there, as he only agreed at short notice - see separate individual reference.)
  22. ↑ '8' LA premiere: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Martin Sheen, Jane Lynch star in play about same-sex marriage battle . In: Daily News / Associated Press , March 4, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2014. 
  23. ↑ 8: Stage A Reading . 8theplay.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  24. Jump up ↑ Mark Kennedy: '8,' Dustin Lance Black Gay Marriage Play, Goes National During 2012 . In: The Huffington Post , January 17, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2014.