Acting Out Equality
(Repost of story in June 20, 2013 Tucson Weekly)
8
7:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 25
Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave.
www.arizonatheatre.org/eight-tuc
“8,” the play detailing the demise of California’s Proposition 8, is coming to Tucson.
Fred DuVal, the executive producer (and Democratic candidate for governor in 2014), saw the play in Phoenix a few weeks ago and immediately decided it needed to be brought to Tucson.
“I was completely moved by it,” DuVal said. “More people need to see it and Tucson is a city that celebrates diversity.”
The play is from transcripts of the closing arguments from Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal trial which led to the overturn of Proposition 8, the act that took away the rights of same-sex couples to marry in California.
“The case was closed to the media, but some people thought it should be heard,” DuVal said.
This isn’t a theatrical play. The “actors” (made up of local celebrities and politicians, including Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, Councilman Steve Kozachik and former TV personality Martha Vazquez) will have the script in their hands and will read while seated on a stool.
“It’s all about the words,” DuVal said.
The Supreme Court is expected to announce their decision on same-sex marriage the day before the play, which is why Duval says the play is being put together so quickly.
Tickets can be purchased online through ticketmaster or through the Arizona Theatre Company box office, at 622-2823. VIP tickets are priced at $95 and include a post-performance reception with the cast. Other tickets are available for $45 and $20.
The money raised will benefit the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which owns the rights to the play, as well as local groups Wingspan, Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, the Alliance Fund and the University of Arizona Office of LGBTQ Affairs.