American Foundation for Equal Rights founding member Dustin Lance Black (a San Antonio native who wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for the 2008 film Milk) based his play 8 on interviews, trial transcripts, and first-hand observations of the courtroom drama surrounding Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown): the landmark federal trial of California’s Proposition 8. According to Black, 8’s goal is “to show the world that marriage equality is a basic constitutional right.” Using the trial’s closing arguments as a framework, the play presents two couples, two attorneys, and an array of witnesses challenging Prop 8 in an AFER-sponsored case that’s now in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Overtime’s Matthew Byron Cassi directs a cast of 23 in a staged reading for one night only in Trinity’s Stieren Theater. $15; 8pm Fri, Aug 24; Trinity University, One Trinity Place, brownpapertickets.com. Check out our full online calendar of upcoming events here: calendar.sacurrent.com.
