December 15, 2011 | Arts / Entertainment

George Clooney to open Prop 8 play

The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact have announced that George Clooney will appear in the West Coast premiere of "8," a play chronicling the constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8. He will only be taking part in a reading of the play on opening night.

The play was penned by Academy Award-winning Dustin Lance Black and directed by Rob Reiner. It is based almost completely on a transcript of the actual Prop 8 legal proceedings of Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case filed to overturn Proposition 8 (which stripped gay and lesbian Californians of the fundamental right to marry).

"It's the last piece of the civil rights puzzle," said Reiner. "People should be aware of what happened."

He added, "I think that people are gonna be moved by it. It almost directs itself in a way."

“It is astonishing that gay and lesbian Americans are still treated as second-class citizens,” Clooney said in a statement. “I am confident that, very soon, the laws of this nation will reflect the basic truth that gay and lesbian people — like all human beings — are born equal in dignity and rights.”

For those set on seeing the star on opening night, it won't be cheap. Tickets begin at $500, with proceeds going to AFER, a nonprofit foundation formed to challenge the court's decision to withhold the tapes.

Clooney To Star In Black's Proposition 8 Play [Contact Music]

Clooney starring in Prop 8 play, for one night only [The Province]