I Hope "8" Is Enough

Last night I watched a new play, “8.”  It reveals the happenings in the courtroom during the Proposition 8 hearings that were closed to the public.  The staged reading contains actual transcripts from the trial combined with sincere, candid, and at times comically absurd--albeit truthful--scenes.  Here’s an article about the play .  The goal of course: to reveal what happened in the courtroom since cameras were barred.

I must say that the list of names in the cast definitely encouraged me to watch last night as the play was live streamed on YouTube.  From a theatre point of view, it was simple, straightforward, and of course, not without its foibles such as, “Say all rise” being repeated because the woman reading the bailiff forgot that part.  Ah live theatre!  Martin Sheen indeed captivated.  George Clooney revealed more through is standard swagger and smirk than I thought possible—how did he and John C. Reilly not just lose it during the cross examination?  Really?  Brad Pitt as the judge surprised me, but he did well with his understated portrayal.  The most exciting point to see was the change that occurred with the boys of Sandy Stier (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Kris Perry (Christine Lahti.)  They went from complaining about missing soccer practice for the trial to understanding how wrong it was that their parents even had to go to court at all over an issue such as this.  That scene at the end when they have nothing more to do than to wait for the decision—between mom and son (you’ll know which one)—brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. If that's not enough, they had Jane Lynch too.

My assessment of the play aside, I firmly believe that this is an important piece of American history and theatre and culture.  It is to be watched by every citizen because as Theodore B. Olson said, “We put fear and prejudice on trial, and fear and prejudice lost.”  It became glaringly apparent to me that the idea of denying marriage based on sex orientation harms everyone involved.  It harms individuals, couples, communities, countries, the whole human race.  It does this by seeking to relegate a group of people to less than human status.  When we allow that to happen, we cause untold harm.  As humans, haven't we done this enough in our history to know better?  The parallels to the abolition of slavery are not hyperbolic or irrelevant.  The transcripts show that when asked to put proof on the table, the arguments for banning same sex marriage have no basis in fact just as the laws that denied human rights to slaves did all those years ago.

I along with about 200,000 other people watched enthralled last night.  Talk about courtroom drama at its finest!  Law & Order ain’t got nothing on the real thing, baby!  I hope you take some time from your busy  schedule to watch.  This play brings to light what it means to be human.  Period.  Labels are just labels.  In the end, we all become dirt.  While we are on this rock trying our best to muddle through, we should seek to uplift one another, not degrade, deride or deny that another human being holds the same rights as we do.

Here’s the link to the American Foundation for Equal Rights page devoted to this brilliant piece of drama.