Love Alone

March 08, 2012

Want to demonstrate how exclusion from marriage harms gay and lesbian couples and their families? Sure, you could list off the various protections that marriage affords to couples who are legally wed, but as we've learned from years of campaigns at ballot boxes and in legislatures around the country, the most effective way to illustrate the harms of marriage discrimination is to tell the stories of those who must endure the painful repercussions.

That's why Freedom to Marry is proud to support the production of Love Alone, a play by internationally awarded playwright Deborah Salem-Smith which premieres in Providence, Rhode Island this month. Love Alone is a fictional drama that sheds light on what happens when loving couples and their families, who face life's worst tragedies, are treated like strangers by the law. And we're even offering special discounted rates for Freedom to Marry supporters to buy tickets now!

Here's a short description from the press release announcing the play's premiere:

Love Alone tells a fictional story of life after a routine medical procedure goes tragically wrong. Love Alone tracks how the lives of both the patient's family––her lesbian partner and their daughter–– as well as the doctor charged with the patient's care are transformed. The play is a lovingly drawn portrait of how we grieve and how we heal.  It is the recipient of the 2011 Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award as well as honorable mention for the 2011 Jane Chambers Award.

For Smith, the resident playwright at Trinity Repertory Company, the subject matter is personal. She lives with her partner and children in Rhode Island and has seen firsthand the pain and hassle that the denial of marriage inflicts on gay families. Salem Smith says that she hopes the audience leaves the production with a deeper, shared understanding of the grief experienced by the lesbian widow. following her partner's unexpected death. In particular, she hopes that this message of empathy will resonate with a straight audience who may not think much about marriage for gay and lesbian couples but will relate to the main character's grief.

Smith's play is particularly relevant to Rhode Island, which last year enacted a discriminatory civil union law after failing to pass the freedom to marry. She says that civil unions have not resolved the problems faced by many same-sex couples and their families in Rhode Island, which is why she hopes Love Alone will keep the conversation moving.

Love Alone debuts on March 16, 2012 at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI. Freedom to Marry supporters can receive discounted tickets (25% off peak and non-peak; 20% off Preview and Wednesday Matinee) by using the discount code: freedom. Click here to get your tickets now!