A new play opens this weekend at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. It's an event that normally would not get the attention of many in San Francisco, but this one is about an important person in the City's history.
The play "Ghost Light" is about one of San Francisco's most iconic politicians.
Director Jonathan Moscone, 47, says he was inspired to write the play after watching the Oscar award-wining film "Milk," which chronicles the life and death of Bay Area politician and gay rights hero Harvey Milk. Although a gay man himself, Moscone's reaction to the film was not what you might expect.
That's because Jonathan Moscone is the son of George Mascone, the mayor of San Francisco who was assassinated alongside Milk in 1978.
George Moscone, a heteorsexual, was known as a staunch advocate for gay rights.
After watching the film Jonathan said he felt his father didn't get the screen time he deserved. He blames that on what he called a larger agenda which fell under a "Harvey Milk gay martyr banner."
"It's a beautifully made movie - it just had nothing to do with my father. My father's story has not been told," Jonathan said in a 2009 interview about the film.
Jonathan decided to take action and set the record straight.
"It's not a biopic, and its not literally about the life and times of my father. It's about my relationship to the memory of my father and the attempt to piece together a relationship well beyond his death," said Jonathan.
The play was written by theater director Tony Taccone and made its debut last summer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Taccone says a large part of the play was written when the he and Jonathan would sit in his loft, and Moscone would simply tell stories about his dad.
Previews of the play will now begin this Friday at the Berkeley Repertory Theater.
