Morgan Freeman, others to participate in Prop. 8 reading

Oscar-winning screenwriter of Milk, and former Mormon, Dustin Lance Black’s latest project, a play called Prop 8, will be a star-studded production and feature Morgan Freeman, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Lahti, Rob Reiner, Yeardley Smith and Marisa Tomei.

The play, which will be directed by Tony Award-winning Joe Mantello, will feature a one-night reading next month in New York next.

Black, who also wrote for the HBO series, Big Love, wrote the script by combing through all the court transcripts from the Proposition 8 trials, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, in California, where the ban on gay marriage was struck down. The tapes from the trials were never released, which is part of the reason Black decided to write the play.