I Am My Own Wife
| I Am My Own Wife | |
|---|---|
 Original Lyceum Theatre window card, 2003 |
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| Written by | Doug Wright |
| Characters | Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, et al. |
| Date premiered | 27 May 2003 |
| Place premiered | Playwrights Horizons New York City |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | a biography of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | Berlin, Germany |
| Official site | |
| IBDB profile | |
| IOBDB profile | |
I Am My Own Wife is a play by Doug Wright based on his conversations with German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. The one-man play premiered Off-Broadway in 2003 at Playwrights Horizons. It opened on Broadway later that year. The play was developed with Moisés Kaufman and his Tectonic Theater Project, and Kaufman also acted as director. Jefferson Mays starred in the Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, playing some forty roles.
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[edit] Plot synopsis
I Am My Own Wife is an examination of the life of German antiquarian Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, born Lothar Berfelde, who killed her father when she was a young boy and survived the Nazi and Communist regimes in East Berlin as a transvestite.
[edit] Productions
In 2004, the play had its European premiere at Stockholms Stadsteater, Stockholm, starring Björn Kjellman. In 2006, the play was staged in Hudson, New York at Stageworks/Hudson starring Broadway actor Jeffrey Kuhn, in Toronto, Ontario at CanStage, with Stephen Ouimette in the starring role, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the Playhouse Theatre with Canadian actor Tom Rooney, at the Saidye Bronfman Centre in Montreal with actor Brett Christopher, in Portland, Oregon at the Gerding Theater starring actor Wade McCollum, in Portland, Maine at the Portland Stage Company starring actor Tom Ford, and in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the Performance Network Theatre starring actor Malcolm Tulip. In January 2007, the San Pedro Playhouse in San Antonio, Texas successfully mounted the play. It was also performed at the George Street Playhouse, New Brunswick, New Jersey from Jan 16, 2007 to Feb 11, 2007. It featured Mark Nelson, and was directed by Anders Cato. A French translation (Ma femme, c'est moi) was performed in February 2009 at Théâtre du Rideau Vert in Montreal. It also ran at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, starring Helen Hayes award winner Andrew Long, and directed by Alan Paul, and at Theater Three[1] in Port Jefferson, New York, featuring Jeffrey Sanzel.
Between May 6 and May 23, 2009 it played in Tasmania at the Earl Arts Centre[2] in Launceston, and the Theatre Royal, Hobart Backspace, produced by the Tasmanian Theatre Company,[3] and featuring Robert Jarman.
In the Czech Republic, the play was premiered in 2008 by Divadlo Letí[4] in Prague, starring Pavol Smolárik. At the same time it was also staged by a Czech non-professional theater group[5] with Libor Ulovec in the role. The latter was awarded the Best Czech Non-Professional Drama Performance 2009 and Libor Ulovec received (among others) the Best Czech Non-Professional Actor Prize 2009.
In Mexico it is starring by the actor Hector Bonilla who, on January 23, 2010, accomplished 100 performances, with 89 standing ovations by that time.
[edit] Awards and nominations
- Awards
- 2004 Drama Desk Award for Best New Play
- 2004 Drama League Award for Best Play
- 2004 Lucille Lortel Awards Outstanding Solo Show
- 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
- 2004 Tony Award for Best Play
- 2004 Lambda Literary Award for Drama
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Playing Now". http://theaterthree.com/now_playing.htm. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
- ^ "?". launceston.tas.gov.au. http://www.launceston.tas.gov.au/content/view/205/450/.[dead link]
- ^ Wright, Doug (22–26 June). "I am My own Wife". Tasmanian Theatre Company. http://www.tastheatre.com/season09/i-am-my-own-wife. Retrieved 11 Decembber 2010.
- ^ "Divadlo Letí homepage". http://www.divadlo-leti.cz/.
- ^ "Soliteater homepage". http://www.soliteater.cz.
- Jefferson Mays (25 June 2004) (Audio). Interview with American Theatre Wing. Downstage Center. http://www.americantheatrewing.org/downstagecenter/detail/jefferson_mays. Retrieved 2008-06-29.
[edit] Further reading
- Mays, Jefferson; Von Mahlsdorf, Charlotte (2004). I Am My Own Wife: Studies for a Play about the Life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. New York: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0571211747.
[edit] External links
- I Am My Own Wife official website
- I Am My Own Wife at the Internet Broadway Database
- I Am My Own Wife at the Internet off-Broadway Database
- Story on 'I Am My Own Wife' in Bmore Live
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