Brow Beat

On Saturday, the American Foundation for Equal Rights streamed a reading of the play 8 that was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. The play, based on transcripts from Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the federal District Court trial that overturned Proposition 8, was written by Dustin Lance Black, the screenwriter of Milk and J. Edgar (and, before that, one of the writers on Big Love).

Overseeing the dramatized trial was Brad Pitt, as Judge Vaughn Walker. George Clooney read the part of David Boies, one of the famous lawyers who argued the case against Proposition 8; the other, Ted Olsen, was played by Martin Sheen (who delivers a powerful closing speech just after the 1-hour-and-46-minute mark in the recording below).

John C. Reilly played David Blankenhorn, founder of the Institute for American Values, in a performance that Entertainment Weekly called "the comic highlight of the evening." Also involved: Kevin Bacon, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and three cast members from Glee (Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, and Chris Colfer).

The reading was directed by Rob Reiner. You can watch the whole thing below.