Customer Reviews

I Am My Own Wife: A Play

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I Am My Own Wife is a rare work that does not merely draw a one noted portrayal of its heroine but fully explores their more questionable aspects and confronts how we record history and the difficulty of finding truth about one individual. Wright had the sense initially that he had discovered a spotless hero in the transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a survivor of both the Nazis and the Communists in East Germany. However, as he discovers that she has perhaps been an informer for the secret police, the lies she has told the playwright unravel and there is little certainty in her autobiography.

On the page, it is difficult to get an idea of what the experience of the play is actually like live, which is easily one of the most stunning plays i've seen in New York. Since the text is composed of what would appear to be scenes between multiple characters, reading it you may imagine something quite different than what is intended and you may picture actual moments between a group of people interacting onstage. However, since the play is written to be performed by one actor as a live event it becomes more about the complexity of a single individual rather than relationships between people. Since the play is meant to be performed with one important exception by a transvestite dressed in merely a simple black dress and a string of pearls, it appears as though one person comes to be so many different things in different situations. Like the nature of Charlotte, the main character, we get a sense as an audience that individuals are not merely one thing or another, but rather their nature is fluid, malleable, and often depends on who is perceiving it.

I highly recommend seeing the production as opposed to reading it because this is thorougly a play crafted for the live event and not the reader, but the text does enhance the experience somewhat. It is a bit clearer which character is speaking when you read the text due to the delineations as opposed to watching one man attempt to portray distinctly and clearly at least 40 character. Mays illuminates the role on broadway but one individual can only do so much. Also, the sense we get of the playwright's struggle to deal with the flaws in Charlotte due to his obsession seemed more apparent to me when reading it.

I Am My Own Wife is an intelligent, funny, and heartbreaking work and i believe it will influence and move theatre artists, audiences and readers for decades to come.

Nothing can match seeing "I Am My Own Wife" on stage. I had the distinctive privilege of scooping a ticket to a recent performance at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway, and it was among the most memorable theatrical experiences I've ever had. Moises Kaufman's direction is simple yet incomparably graceful and subtle. And if Jefferson Mays doesn't receive a Tony for his miraculous portrayal of some forty-odd characters, then there is no justice, in awards giving or the world. But if you can't see it live, I beg of you to read the beautiful and challenging words of Doug Wright's play. The beginning is almost mundane: an elderly German transvestite, discussing her antique furniture collection. As the story unfurls, we begin to hear, through the eyes and ears of the astonished author, the story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, who survived both the Nazi and Communist regimes as a transvestite. Her dark and fascinating tale of survival pins you to your seat, as the intricate detail and low-key wit of the words fleshes out this true heroine. Or is she? As the first act comes to a close, documents begin to surface that falsify many of Charlotte's stories. In fact, she may have worked for the Communist secret police in order to survive. Is Charlotte to be trusted and admired, as she denies all the accusations? The choice is yours. But as he explores notions of shared history, the elusive nature of truth, and the real definition of heroism, Wright unearths unnerving and provocative truths that reverberate within your soul long after the curtain falls, or the last page is turned. Don't let the seemingly esoteric subject matter fool you. The story of "I Am My Own Wife" is all the more distinguished because of the universiality of its reach and the power of its final message.

"I am my Own Wife" is the new play (2004) by Doug Wright (screenplay writer of Quills) based on his interviews and friendship with the late gay German crossdressed hausfrau, Lothar Berfelde, better known as Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf. A magnificent one-man show that mesmerized Broadway, actor Jefferson Mays played thirty-five separate characters.

The title comes from 40-year-old Charlotte's answer to his mother's clueless plea "don't you think it's time you settled down and found a wife?": "But, Mutti, don't you know that I am my own wife?"

Do buy (and go see) this play! It is well-written, entertaining, very "theatrical," and you will enjoy reading and discussing it with your friends. I also recommend Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf's autobiography. (See my "So You Want To . . . be Your Own Wife" guide to find more materials related to Charlotte's life and times).

HOWEVER . . . it may sound contradictory, given what I've said, but I have a lot of problems with the central character of Charlotte. I've thought for days about this play and the story. I was very attracted to it because of the sheer theatricality of the situation and the character, not to mention the frisson of the "non-drag-queen-drag-queen." But, despite myself, I have been bothered by something that hasn't struck me quite right.

Charlotte is astonishing because this dowdy cross-dresser survived both the Nazis and the subsequent communists to become the leading expert on the Grunderzeit period (approx. 1835-1918) of German furniture design.

That said, there is something strange at the core of this piece: this central character of Charlotte, this hopefully sympathetic trope for beauty and the everlasting human spirit, despite survival at all odds (or maybe because?)---is an empty, severely alienated person. "Autistic" and "disconnected" are the words that stick in my mind. He never really connects with anyone, hermetically sealed in a world of obsession for this furniture and a fantasy past constructed to block out horrible realities. He (debatably) sells out his friends. He is born, lives, and dies for (and with) . . . the furniture. I can't love him because he can't possibly love me back.

For an example of this genre where real human love and sacrifice are manifest, read the play "Bent."

This is my final analysis after discussing it with many friends.
The whole confection is tasty but, after the meal, there has been no lasting nourishment.

Again, it has been a fun process of discovery and I whole-heartedly recommend reading this play. Whaddaya think? Do you agree or disagree? Read and see.

I read about "I Am My Own Wife" in The Advocate and The Gay and Lesbian Review, so I bought the script and was impressed by it. Doug Wright has crafted a play that is intelligent, illuminating and very "theatrical" (which I love). I was very fortunate to see the Broadway production at the Lyceum Theatre and was blown away. Like "Angels in America," reading this play (which I strongly recommend you do) doesn't compare with seeing it performed. Jeffrey Mays gave a brilliant performance (one of the finest I've ever seen - as good as Julie Harris in "The Belle of Amhearst" - and there ain't no higher praise than that!). The direction of Moises Kaufman was perfect, as were all of the technical elements. I would certainly hope to see this play collect the majority of this seasons prizes - Tony Award nominations for Best Play, Best Direction and Best Actor seem certain. It has my vote for all three.

I was first introduced to this play by a local theatre group, one of the first in the US to debut it and was absolutely blown away by the subject matter as well as the performance. Charlotte's life story told by Doug through various intermediate characters all while wearing a black dress, is a story that should be shared. Not only is this a story about sexuality, but it is more importantly about survival and how we change our identities to do so.

When reading this play I realized that the feature of having all parts played by one actor is essential to the esthetic experience and is missed when reading the script. I have not seen the play, only read the script, and therefore my judgment needs to be about what I read. I could only imagine the challenge for the actor and the audience of having one actor that plays all of these characters. The play is about the multiple ways that one life can be interpreted and how assumptions can be wrong as we dig deeper in a person's character and past. The story is about transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a gay man who lived during terrible eras in Berlin during World War II and the Communist domination of East Germany. I was a bit disappointed by the script and sense that the seeing a production of the play would be a very different way to experience this narrative.

This is an autobiography of Charlotte, a transvestite German, written in a play format like the works of Shakespeare. This work won a Pulitzer Prize the year it came out, and so I read it thinking it would be interesting. I am not sure what to think of it still, or even whether Charlotte is a man acting like a woman, or the other way around.

The play is about the life of Charlotte, a person born in Germany before World War II. (S)he grows up in an abusive family, and kills his own father while still a minor. (S)he flees his home in the city during the Nazi's term of power to life in the countryside (I think), and moves back after the Russians move in. (S)he then navigates life under Communism, and survives to see the end of it and the reunification of Germany.

The bulk of the book takes place during the Nazi reign first and the Soviet occupation second. Charlotte recounts how he/she survives both regimes, both of which were not known for tolerance of homosexual behavior and/or transvestites. There are hints throughout the play that Charlotte evaded persecution in varous sordid ways. One is that (s)he acted as a spy for the government. Second, (s)he might have had clandestine, sexual affairs with individuals in power, who then protected him/her in order to protect themselves.

There are scenes of tragedy in the book, like when certain friends are carted of by the secret police, but these scenes are not sad enough to make you cry. There are also funny scenes, but none of them are hilarious. In all, this was an interesting read, and being such a short book, is worth the 1-2 hours to finish it.

All the power to Mr. Wright. After all, it 's not everyone that can hit a home run on Broadway. God bless him. And it is a fascinating little story, of a transsexual in drag who outwits the German Gestapo and the Stasi, living finally to triumph as a post-modern icon of perverse longevity in a land of forgotten heroes, mysterious deaths and torture chambers. One would love to know the true story of this so-called 'survivor.' Whose lap was she/he sitting on? The play itself is a long drag, a monologue delivered to the audience about how fascinating the playwright found this person to be. Of course, one would very much wonder how the playwright decided that what was most interesting about this story was the fact that he found it so terribly interesting. Another interpretation might have been that there wasn't very much there in the first place.