[ theater/LGBTQ ]

In the same week Equality Forum descends on Philadelphia (see our event picks), the Wilma Theater has teamed up with Broadway Impact and the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) to host a dramatic reading of 8. The Dustin Lance Black-penned play is based on the real-life courtroom drama of Perry v. Brown; the case challenged California's Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that famously amended the state's constitution to rescind just-granted same-sex marriage rights. Black, an Academy Award winner for Milk, says, "People need to witness what happened in the Proposition 8 trial, if for no other reason than to see inequality and discrimination unequivocally rejected in a court of law where truth and facts matter." A cast of Broadway notables and TV actors (Queer as Folk's Randy Harrison and Smash's Phillip Spaeth) will join Barrymore-winning Philly actors Grace Gonglewski and Mary Martello for the reading. Proceeds will benefit AFER.

Mon., May 7, 7:30 p.m., $20, Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., 215-546-7824, wilmatheater.org.