Dustin Lance Black
The New York Times reports that a new play about the legal battles over California’s Proposition 8 will be performed in several staged readings on Broadway in September.
Written by Oscar-winning Milkscreenwriter Dustin Lance Black, the play, titled simply 8, consists largely of dialogue from transcripts of the 2010 trial that ended with a judge overturning Proposition 8. After its Broadway debut,8 is set to be performed at several college campuses around the country.
According to the Times, Black said he became determined to write the play after the United States Supreme Court blocked the trial judge’s plan to broadcast the hearings over the Internet.
“One of my hopes about the trial was to get the opposition in court, hands raised swearing to tell the truth, and have the world see the opposition called to account for going on TV saying gay people harm children, harm families,” Mr. Black said. “Since the trial itself wasn’t heard or seen, I wanted to get that story out another way.”