As a legally married man, I would like to once again offer my apologies for those who would like to keep it bizarrely exclusive. The desire to keep marriage between a man and a woman is staggeringly bizarre when one considers that it had essentially started out as an arrangement between a man and his property. Things change. Things evolve. And some people have a tremendous amount of difficulty handling evolution.
The fundamental shift in cultural perspective that’s going on in the emerging generations . . . Y, Z and Alpha are making a move towards equality almost inevitable. For those dealing with it right now, it doesn’t feel like it’s ever going to change. I can only imagine that it must’ve seemed like that for the last person to use a ‘blacks only’ water fountain. Change can’t happen soon enough when it’s an issue of personal freedom. But change is coming in part through the diligence of people dealing with the injustice. So it’s going to be kind of strange explaining to future generations what the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 were all about.
Dustin Lance Black has done a tremendous amount of work trying to figure out what’s going on inside the minds of those stuck in the past with a script he’s been developing called 8. He’s been working diligently on turning hundreds of hours of Proposition 8 trial transcripts into a script that will debut on Broadway for a one night only staged reading on September 19th. The production is evidently a really close analysis of Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
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In the interest of having the show live beyond its premiere, non-profit group Broadway Impact is sponsoring a series of readings of the script all over the country. Here in Milwaukee, Theatrical Tendencies will be looking to present a reading of 8.
Producing Director David Carter from the press release: "Bringing a work like this, a work that represents the struggles and challenges in the lives of our LGBTQ community is exactly what Theatrical Tendencies mission is all about." said Carter. "We have a responsibility and a passion to participate in works like "8" and keep the voice of our community relevant and constant."
Very cool. Exact dates and locations for a reading of the script haven’t been released yet. The press release states that they will, “remain undetermined until a performance license has been granted.”
For more information about Theatrical Tendencies, visit them online.
