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GREENSBORO — If two men rewrote their vows to reflect the limited options for a gay couple, what would they say?

On Monday, more than 40 theater groups around the country and beyond will tackle that topic and others in presenting “Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays.”

In Greensboro, Paper Lantern Theatre Company and Guilford College’s Theatre Studies department each will produce staged readings of nine short plays by well-known playwrights, including Joe Keenan and Moises Kaufman.

Productions will raise awareness and money in support of marriage equality. Local performances are free, but donations will be accepted for Equality NC, a group dedicated to securing equal rights and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The topic resonates in North Carolina, where voters will decide in May on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

“These plays have beautifully written text,” says Christine Woodworth, who directs Paper Lantern’s performance. “But there is a mission and purpose to this work beyond the aesthetic experience.”

“We cannot say we live in a free society when so many citizens are not granted full rights under the law — whether those rights include the ability to have health care on your partner’s plan or to visit your partner in the hospital when they are ill or dying. …” Woodworth adds.

“I have all these privileges that some of my friends and family do not, just because of the circumstances in which they live. It’s imperative that we all fight this fight together.”

The performances coincide with the premiere of “Standing on Ceremony,” which is in previews off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theatre. The Tectonic Theater Project has partnered with the production to take the play’s message nationwide.

The nine plays range in tone from comic to joyful to satirical to poignant and heartbreaking.

“They are like little gems,” says Beth Ritson, who will co-produce Paper Lantern’s performance with Woodworth as well as act as part of its eight-member cast.

Ritson and Woodworth, who teach theater at local colleges, helped to start Paper Lantern in 2009. This marks Paper Lantern and Guilford’s second collaborations with Tectonic.

In 2009, they joined theaters groups that presented “The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.” That staged reading followed up on the play about reaction to the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard, who was gay.

When they heard about “Standing on Ceremony,” they wanted to participate.

“Because of the contemporary significance of the subject matter and because of the excellence of the writing, it’s a theater piece we felt compelled to do,” said David Hammond, a Guilford College theater studies professor.

Guilford College will open the 90-minute presentation with an introductory broadcast streamed live from New York. Audience members can watch a streamed post-performance discussion and submit questions via Twitter. Paper Lantern will feature a performance by the Triad Pride Men’s Chorus.

Ritson and Woodworth don’t expect their production to change votes on the state’s constitutional amendment issue, since those who attend likely support marriage equality.

But Ritson views it as “kind of like a candlelight vigil for marriage equality.”

“We are getting together as a bond and holding candles and holding vigil, that right will prevail.”

Contact Dawn DeCwikiel-Kane at 373-5204 or dawn.kane@news-record.com