8 (play)

{{short description|2011 play by Dustin Lance Black}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox play

| name = 8

| image = 8 the play.jpg

| image_size =

| image_alt =

| caption = Official Poster

| writer = Dustin Lance Black
Kate Sullivan Gibbens

| chorus =

| characters =

| mute =

| setting =

| premiere = September 19, 2011 (Broadway)
March 3, 2012 (worldwide broadcast)

| place = Eugene O'Neill Theatre
Ebell of Los Angeles broadcast live on YouTube

| orig_lang =

| series =

| subject = Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial reenactment using original court transcripts and first-hand interviews of the people involved

| genre = verbatim theatre
documentary theatre

| web = http://www.8theplay.com

}}

8 is a 2011 American play that portrays the closing arguments of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, a federal trial that led to the overturn of Proposition 8, an amendment banning same-sex marriages in California. It was created by Dustin Lance Black in light of the court's denial of a motion to release a video recording of the trial and to give the public a true account of what transpired in the courtroom.

The play is written in the style of verbatim theatre reenactment, using transcripts from the trial, journalist records, and media interviews from the plaintiffs, defendants and proponents involved. 8 first premiered on September 19, 2011 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York City, and later broadcast worldwide from the Ebell of Los Angeles on March 3, 2012.{{cite news | url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2012/03/george-clooney-brad-pitt-enact-prop-8-stage-drama.html | title=George Clooney, Brad Pitt lead all-star Prop. 8 play reading | work=Los Angeles Times | date=March 4, 2012 | access-date=11 March 2012 | last=Ng | first=David}}{{cite news | url=http://www.gazettenet.com/2012/03/05/pitt-clooney-sheen-headline-marriage-rights-play-premiere | title=Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Martin Sheen headline West Coast premiere of marriage-rights play | agency=Associated Press | date=March 5, 2012 | access-date=11 March 2012}} Black brought the play to San Francisco, the home of the court case on which the play was based, on October 7, 2012 for a one-night-only reading at the ACT Theater.{{cite web |title=Holland Taylor, Luke Macfarlane, and More Set for '8' Reading at ACT Tonight, 10/7 |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/san-francisco/article/Holland-Taylor-Luke-Macfarlane-and-More-Set-for-8-Reading-at-ACT-107-20121006 |website=Broadway World |access-date=October 4, 2022 |date=October 7, 2012}} A cast reception following the reading included an appearance by the trial judge, Vaughn Walker. On October 22, 2012, another one-night-only reading was performed at the downtown Crest Theater in Sacramento, California, U.S.{{cite web |title=Dustin Lance Black's "8" Comes to Sacramento - Sacramento Press |url=https://sacramentopress.com/2012/10/13/dustin-lance-blacks-8-comes-to-sacramento/ |website=Sacramento Press |access-date=July 29, 2018 |date=October 13, 2012}}

The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact, sponsors of the play, have licensed the play for readings nationwide on college campuses and in community theaters free of charge, as an educational tool.See

• {{cite web|title=8: Stage A Reading|url=http://www.8theplay.com/stage-a-reading/|publisher=8theplay.com|access-date=8 March 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227210356/http://www.8theplay.com/stage-a-reading/|archive-date=27 February 2017}}
• {{cite press release |url= http://www.afer.org/news/8lafullcast/ |title= Complete All-Star Cast for West Coast Premiere of Dustin Lance Black's "8" Announced |date= February 15, 2012 |publisher= American Foundation for Equal Rights |first1= Elizabeth |last1= Riel |first2= Brandon |last2= Hersh |access-date= March 4, 2012 }}
• {{cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Mark|title='8,' Dustin Lance Black Gay Marriage Play, Goes National During 2012|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/17/8-dustin-lance-black-play_n_1210089.html|access-date=11 March 2012|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=January 17, 2012}}
• {{cite web|last=Hernandez|first=Greg|title=Dustin Lance Black's Prop. 8 play set for U.S. colleges: At least 40 schools will put on productions of 8 this year|url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/dustin-lance-blacks-prop-8-play-set-us-colleges|publisher=gaystarnews.com|access-date=11 March 2012}}
• Long Beach, CA: {{cite web|title='8' The Play Brings Marriage Equality To Long Beach|url=http://www.lbpost.com/life/2000000819-8-the-play-lb|publisher=lbpost.com|access-date=October 18, 2012}}
• Sacramento, CA: {{cite web|title=Dustin Lance Black's "8" Comes to Sacramento|url=http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/74589/Dustin_Lance_Blacks_8_Comes_to_Sacramento/|publisher=The Sacramento Press. sacramentopress.com|access-date=October 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322180947/http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/74589/Dustin_Lance_Blacks_8_Comes_to_Sacramento|archive-date=2013-03-22|url-status=dead}}
• Sacramento, CA: {{cite web|last=Becker|first=John M|title=Prop 8 Play Comes to Northern California|url=http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2012/10/30679/|publisher=Truth Wins Out|access-date=October 18, 2012|archive-date=September 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918234744/https://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2012/10/30679/|url-status=dead}}

A radio adaptation was broadcast on JOY 94.9, an LGBTIQ community radio station in Melbourne, Australia, on March 27, 2014.