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| by Brenda Ellis

Staff Picks, MiddPoints

Staff Picks

Black, Dustin Lance.  Eight. L.A. Theatre Works, 2012.

It’s April, often called Gaypril / GAYpril / gAyPRIL on college campuses. It’s a chance to celebrate June’s LGBTQ+ Pride Month earlier when students are still here.  This reminded me of a very moving play called “Eight” that I listened to awhile back. It dramatizes the court proceedings of a case in California that overturned Proposition 8 – a voter-initiated amendment that effectively banned same sex marriage by defining it as being between a man and a woman. The play was performed by LA Theatre Works using an all-star cast to play the lawyers, plaintiffs, judge, defendants, and even family members involved. It was a very different experience for me to simply listen to the play instead of reading it or seeing it acted out on stage.  The audiobook allows you to hear the familiar voices of actors such as George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Jamie Lee Curtis, Martin Sheen, Kevin Bacon, John C. Reilly, and many others perform excerpts from actual court arguments as well as behind the scenes conversations. The play portrays how the circumstances enfolded and how justice was achieved by protecting the right for ALL couples to marry.

Note: I checked MIDCAT, but the library didn’t have the play, so I used the suggest a purchase option (also available at http://go.middlebury.edu/request/) to get a copy. Did you know you can request the library purchase materials as well?

 

Get It!

Borrow “Eight” from the library and listen to it on your favorite device.

audiobook cover

Media Contact

Brenda Ellis is Senior Research and Instruction Librarian