SCOTUS rules that gay couples can marry in all 50 states, the latest on the terror attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait, Alan Rickman's film, 'A Little Chaos.'
Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling: A look with UCLA professor, Prop 8 plaintiff
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry in all 50 states.
The justices voted 5-4, which was the same breakdown when the court struck down DOMA in 2013, said Douglas NeJaime, professor of law and faculty director of the Williams Institute at UCLA. The ruling means that no state can deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and their marriages are recognized no matter what state they go to.
Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the decision, which means he has written all of the High Court's gay rights opinions. The Republican justice also has a history in Sacramento.
"He cares deeply about the stigma that being excluded from constitutional protections can inflict on people, and so you see repeatedly in his opinions, as well as in today's opinion, references to dignity. Justice Kennedy has brought dignity into U.S. jurisprudence more than anyone else," NeJaime said.
Jeff Zarrillo and his husband, Paul, were plaintiffs in California's Prop. 8 case. Paul made sure to set his alarm early in hopes that he and Paul could catch the announcement on TV.
"We knew we were in good shape when we heard the cheers," Zarrillo said.
He knows the feeling of walking out of the Supreme Court victorious.
"It's really a majestic experience, if you will," he said. He also said this fight was never just about himself and Paul, but those who had battled for decades to reach this moment.
"It's also about those people that fought for this when it was a lot harder, and lost their lives in some instances. So this victory is a legacy that they set, and we're celebrating for them today as much as ourselves," Zarrillo said. "This fight was too important not to do it."
While this is the end of the fight for same-sex marriage, Nejaime says other fights are ahead, like religious liberty and anti-discrimination laws.
"A person might exercise their right to get married to someone of the same sex, and yet the next day get fired from their job the next day, and so those kinds of issues are going to persist" he said.
Listen to Jeff Zarillo's interview by clicking the blue audio player above. Douglas NeJaime's full interview can be found in the bonus audio.
Women's World Cup: USA takes on China in quarterfinals
The Women's World Cup is heading down the homestretch in Canada. The quarterfinals are set for Friday night with eight teams left.
Team USA will take on China. The U.S. has never failed to make the semifinals in any major tournament.
Laura Vescey has been covering the games for Fox Sports, and she joined the show with more.
Jail-born theater troupe uses Aristophanes to address addiction, recidivism
A new play opening this weekend got its start at Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles. Strindberg Laboratory's adaptation of Aristophanes' satire "The Birds" features a cast of nonprofessional actors, most of whom come from the shelters and recovery programs in downtown's Skid Row area.
The play opens, like the Greek original, with a couple castaways following a crow to the outskirts of the city, as they contemplate how to escape the confines of their society and the burdensome laws of the gods and man. They land on the idea of petitioning the bird king to work with them to create an aerial utopia immune to the worlds above and below them.
Strindberg's version follows its own trajectory, tracing the outline of the original but picking up pop culture references as well as personal experiences and additions from the cast, who spent five months of workshopping the piece.
Meri Pakarinan, who runs the program along with her partner and co-director Michael Bierman, said they were looking to do a classic, scripted play that would be a break from their last production "Hustlin." That play, which will be the subject of a documentary currently in the works — was drawn largely from the experiences of its cast-members.
"The Birds" took them in a somewhat different direction.
"It just had a lot of possibilities," said Pakarinan. "It's physical. It's satire. We can put it up to date. It allows a lot of creativity."
Drama born of LA's jail system
Strindberg has been working in L.A.'s jail system for years. Pakarinan said they started working with prisoners on the 9th floor of Men's Central, where the gay and transgender inmates are largely housed, as well as in the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.
They began by rehearsing scenes from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," but the script quickly morphed as the prisoners added their own experiences to the performance.
"Juliet was an addict and the priest was a drug dealer," Pakarinan said, laughing. "It was like crazy, and we didn't give those suggestions to them. That came out of them."
That gave them the idea to let the prisoners begin interpreting the plays through their own experiences, an approach they brought to subsequent plays they performed in the jails, including one called "Love: A Life Sentence" and an earlier version of "The Birds."
In fact, several cast members were introduced to the program while they were in Men's Central, including 48-year-old Marshall May, who plays the bird king, and Lucas Taoatao, who created the costumes and makeup for the show.
After leaving the jail, May said he ran into Pakarinan and Bierman at the Volunteers of America drug counseling program he was attending, where they were leading an acting workshop.
"It was kind of serendipitous," he said. He was having difficulty staying clean after emerging onto Skid Row.
"It was scary," he said. "I smoked cocaine, crack. And when you see somebody on the street smoking crack five feet away from you and I have to kind of dodge the smoke [...] if I was to get a whiff of that... I'm not trying to go back to the ninth floor."
The play, May said, has helped him keep himself on track.
"It gives me a focus, it gives me something to look forward to," he said. "I'm not employed, right? This play gives me a sense of what it would be like to be responsible and committed to a job. I have a sense of obligation, responsibility. It's good for me. It's cathartic."
Performer Carrie Gazzaruso came from the same VOA program, where she'd been struggling to stay sober.
"I was in rehab along with Marshall and they had this acting class," she said. "It just changed our lives."
Gazzaruso was also featured in Strindberg's earlier play "Hustlin," where she enacted scenes from her days on the street. "I've had a tough life to say the least," she said.
Theater, not just therapy
Bierman and Pakarinan acknowledge that there is an element of therapy in their shows' process, but they bristle at the idea that self-help is Strindberg's central purpose.
"After 'Hustlin' people still said, 'Well, it was sort of therapeutic'. Which is great. It is therapeutic," said Bierman. "But this is really good theater." So we said, 'What do we need to do now?' We said 'Let's do something that they're not expecting. Let's do an old Greek play.'"
Pakarinan said working with nonprofessional actors completely changes the dynamic of the show.
"They have amazing instruments," she said. "The street has taught them more acting than any actor can ever teach you. They're natural."
The nonprofit will soon get a chance to expand on the vision. They're set to begin a similar program in L.A. County prisons in the coming months, thanks to a grant from the California Arts Council.
"The Birds" plays at the Sidewalk Studio Theatre in Burbank on Friday night at 7 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. You can reserve tickets online or by calling 213-265-6313.
Alan Rickman in the director's chair and on the throne for 'A Little Chaos'
The new film "A Little Chaos" is set in France in the year 1682.
It's about plans to build a garden at the palace of Versailles. The king's landscape artist (played by actor Matthias Schoenaerts) needs someone to complete an outdoor ballroom.
He calls upon a commoner named Sabine (played by Kate Winslet) for the job, but he has concerns about her style of work.
"A Little Chaos" was directed by Alan Rickman, who also appears in the film as King Louis XIV.
He joined Take Two to talk about returning to the director's chair and taking on the role of the Sun King.
To hear the full interview with Alan Rickman, click the link above.
"A Little Chaos" opens in theaters June 26th.
Suspected terrorist attacks today span three continents, kill dozens
Four incidents today in France, Tunisia, Kuwait and Somalia— all believed to be acts of terrorism— have left dozens dead and wounded.
Investigations into the deadly attacks are still ongoing. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the bomb attack at a Shiite mosque in Kuwait, renewing concerns that the extremists are inspiring sympathizers in countries beyond Iraq and Syria. And the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabab group claimed responsibility for the attack in Somalia.
Lara Jakes, deputy managing editor at Foreign Policy, joined Take Two for the latest.