Goodman Theatre to host reading of Prop 8 play January 14

Prop 8 protesters rally in Sacramento, California, on November 22, 2008. Photo: Karin Hildebrand Lau / Shutterstock.com

Goodman Theatre associate producer Steve Scott will direct a one-time staged reading of 8, the play about California's Proposition 8 trial. The script, by Milk and J. Edgar screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, dramatizes the Federal District Court trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Hollingsworth v. Perry), which challenges the constitutionality of Prop 8, by which California voters in 2008 eliminated the then-existing right to same-sex marriage in that state.

The cast of the Goodman reading will be led by Jonathan Weir as U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker and Bret Tuomi and Patrick Clear as plaintiffs’ lead co-counsel, David Boies and Theodore B. Olson. The remainder of the cast, per a press release, includes:

Patrick Andrews (Ryan Kendall, Plaintiffs’ witness), Bill Bannon (Charles J. Cooper, Proponents’ attorney), Susan Monts-Bologna (Dr. Maggie Gallagher, marriage equality opponent), Janet Ulrich Brooks (broadcast journalist); Dan Cantor (Dr. Ilan Meyer, Plaintiffs’ witness) Joseph Foronda (Dr. Hak-shing William Tam, Prop. 8 proponent), Charlie Fox (Elliot Perry, son of Kris and Sandy), LaNisa Fredrick (Court Clerk), Larry Grimm (David Blankenhorn, Proponents’ witness), Fawzia Mirza (Dr. Nancy Cott, Plaintiffs’ witness), Patrick Sarb (Paul Katami, Plaintiff), Jake Schlossberg (Spencer Perry, son of Kris and Sandy), Kelli Simpkins (Kris Perry, Plaintiff), Ben Sprunger (Jeff Zarrilo, Plaintiff), Demetrios Troy (Dr. Gary Segura, Plaintiffs’ witness) and Karen Woditch (Sandy Stier, Plaintiff).

The roles of plaintiffs' witness Dr. Gregory Herek and Freedom to Marry founder Evan Wolfson are yet to be cast. The 7:30pm performance in the Goodman's Owen Theatre is free, but reservations are required; tickets can be reserved at GoodmanTheatre.org/8thePlay or by calling or visiting the Goodman's box office (170 N Dearborn St, 312-443-3800). A discussion with plaintiff Kris Perry and local marriage equality proponents will follow the performance.

Hollingsworth v. Perry is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which announced this morning that it will hear oral arguments in the case on Tuesday, March 26. A bill to achieve marriage equality in Illinois stalled in the General Assembly's lame-duck session last week after passing out of committee in the Senate; a rally at the Thompson Center drew more than 100 proponents on Saturday, according to reports. The issue is expected to be revisited early in the new assembly, which convenes later this week.