"A Theater for Social Change"Here's something very cool: Rev. Janet Edwards, a local Presbyterian minister who united two women in marriage in 2005 and had charges brought against her, will make a special appearance at the Fourth Annual Pittsburgh Pride Theater Festival, following the 7:00 p.m. performance of my play Their Town on June 17.
Rev. Edwards - a parish associate of Pittsburgh's Community of Reconciliation, an interracial, multi-denominational congregation - will participate in a conversation with me on the topic of how art helps to create social change. Their Town, a full-length comedy, imagines what would happen if a same-sex couple tried to get married in Grover's Corners, the fictional site of Thornton Wilder's classic American play Our Town.
My play takes a close look at our allies, people who go to bat for gay rights, and Rev. Edwards is a living example of that. I thought inviting her to talk about why she has actively engaged in the struggle for equal marriage rights - even putting her job on the line for it - would give even more immediacy to a theatrical work.
Here's what happened: Rev. Edwards - a descendant of celebrated Puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards - made both local and national news when she presided over the marriage of two lesbians, Brenda Cole and Nancy McConn of West Virginia, in June 2005. Following the ceremony, the couple placed a wedding announcement in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, noting Rev. Edwards' participation. The wedding caused an uproar among some of Edwards’ conservative colleagues, who filed a formal complaint against her.
Edwards steadfastly maintained that she had not violated church law in marrying the two women. “Marriage is a sacred union between people who are committed to each other, without regard to gender,” she said. After a year-long ordeal, the highest Presbyterian court threw out the charges against Edwards in November 2006.
The conversation will begin directly after the 7 p.m. performance on June 17 and will be followed by a Q&A with the audience. Tickets are $10 in advance (to reserve call 412-288-0358) and $15 at the door. The event takes place at 542 Penn Avenue, mezzanine level, in the Cultural District. Be there!
Rev. Edwards - a parish associate of Pittsburgh's Community of Reconciliation, an interracial, multi-denominational congregation - will participate in a conversation with me on the topic of how art helps to create social change. Their Town, a full-length comedy, imagines what would happen if a same-sex couple tried to get married in Grover's Corners, the fictional site of Thornton Wilder's classic American play Our Town.
My play takes a close look at our allies, people who go to bat for gay rights, and Rev. Edwards is a living example of that. I thought inviting her to talk about why she has actively engaged in the struggle for equal marriage rights - even putting her job on the line for it - would give even more immediacy to a theatrical work.
Here's what happened: Rev. Edwards - a descendant of celebrated Puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards - made both local and national news when she presided over the marriage of two lesbians, Brenda Cole and Nancy McConn of West Virginia, in June 2005. Following the ceremony, the couple placed a wedding announcement in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, noting Rev. Edwards' participation. The wedding caused an uproar among some of Edwards’ conservative colleagues, who filed a formal complaint against her.
Edwards steadfastly maintained that she had not violated church law in marrying the two women. “Marriage is a sacred union between people who are committed to each other, without regard to gender,” she said. After a year-long ordeal, the highest Presbyterian court threw out the charges against Edwards in November 2006.
The conversation will begin directly after the 7 p.m. performance on June 17 and will be followed by a Q&A with the audience. Tickets are $10 in advance (to reserve call 412-288-0358) and $15 at the door. The event takes place at 542 Penn Avenue, mezzanine level, in the Cultural District. Be there!
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