I Am My Own Wife
By Doug Wright
Performed — 2017 at Studio Underground
Gay hero? Killer? Stasi informant?
WA Premiere
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play, I Am My Own Wife is an examination of the life of German antiquarian Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. Born Lothar Berfelde, she killed her father when she was 12 years old, was sentenced to four years in juvenile prison and survived the Nazi and Communist regimes in plain sight as a transvestite.
As an adult she lived just as provocatively, running a museum of furniture and everyday objects sourced from destroyed and abandoned houses in Berlin. A museum that became well known as a hangout for the local LGBTI community, with a secret Weimar cabaret dive bar in the basement.
Doug Wright skilfully uses more than 30 characters, himself included, to masterfully tell – through interviews, recollections of selective encounters, letters and song – the struggle and triumph of Charlotte’s extraordinary life. A truly engaging and dynamic Broadway biography that will disarm and fascinate!
DIRECTOR Joe Lui
SET & COSTUME DESIGNER Cherish Marrington
LIGHTING DESIGNER Chris Donnelly
COMPOSER/SOUND DESIGNER Joe Lui
CAST Brendan Hanson
The I Am My Own Wife programme is available in-season for purchase in the foyer or available to download here.
