''I Am My Own Wife'' is a play by Doug Wright based on his conversations with the German antiquarian Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. The

one-man play A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show or one-woman show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including auto ...

premiered Off-Broadway in 2003 at

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. Under the ...

. It opened on

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later that year. The play was developed with Moisés Kaufman and his

Tectonic Theater Project Tectonic Theater Project is a stage and theatre group whose plays have been performed around the world. The company is dedicated to developing works that explore theatrical language and form, fostering dialogue with audiences on the social, pol ...

, and Kaufman also acted as director. Jefferson Mays starred in the Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, playing some forty roles. Wright received the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work. With his play ''I Am My Own Wife'', Wright tied in with the film '' I Am My Own Woman'' by

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

director

Rosa von Praunheim Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, painter and one of the most famous gay rights activists in the German-speaking world. In ov ...

(1992). Film and play are based on von Mahlsdorf's autobiography, first issued in 1992, translated in 1995.

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 child and survived the Nazi and Communist regimes in East Berlin as a transgender woman.

Productions

''I Am My Own Wife'' began with Moises Kauffman and Doug Wright at About Face Theatre in Chicago in 2002, and moved to Broadway in 2004 where it won the

Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality leading roles in a Broadway p ...

(Mays) and received a nomination for Best Play. It was first produced as a workshop in July 2001 at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla CA.

Premieres

In 2004, the play had its European premiere at Stockholms Stadsteater, Stockholm, starring Björn Kjellman. In 2005, it had its American regional premiere at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, starring Todd Almond. That production then traveled to Actors Theatre of Louisville and

Florida Studio Theatre Florida Studio Theatre (FST) is a professional, non-profit theater company located in Sarasota, Florida and represents one of the major cultural institutions in the Gulf Coast region. Founded in 1973 as a touring troupe, FST is currently a region ...

. In 2006, the play was staged in Hudson, New York at Stageworks/Hudson starring Broadway actor Jeffrey Kuhn, in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

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CanStage Canadian Stage is a non-profit contemporary performance arts company based in Toronto, Ontario, ''Canada''. About Canadian Stage Canadian Stage is one of Canada's largest not-for-profit contemporary theatre companies, based in Toronto, Ontari ...

, with

Stephen Ouimette Stephen Ouimette is a Canadian actor and director. Although mostly known for his stage work, particularly at the Stratford Festival of Canada and recently on Broadway in '' La Bete'', he achieved TV fame (and a Gemini Award) as the ghostly Olive ...

in the starring role, in

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, at the Playhouse Theatre with Canadian actor Tom Rooney, at the Saidye Bronfman Centre in Montreal with actor Brett Christopher, in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

at the Gerding Theater starring actor Wade McCollum, in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

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 January 16, 2007 to February 11, 2007. It featured Mark Nelson, and was directed by Anders Cato. Vince Gatton performed the role in a production directed by Andrew Volkoff at Barrington Stage Company in 2008. A French translation (''Ma femme, c'est moi'') was performed in February 2009 at Théâtre du Rideau Vert in

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. 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 in

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, featuring Jeffrey Sanzel. Between May 6 and May 23, 2009, it played in

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at the Earl Arts Centre in Launceston, and the Theatre Royal, Hobart Backspace, produced by the Tasmanian Theatre Company and featuring Robert Jarman. In the

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, the play was premiered in 2008 by Divadlo Letí in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, starring Pavol Smolárik. At the same time it was also staged by a Czech non-professional theater group 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. It was also performed in Gettysburg,

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, at Gettysburg Stage starring actor Eric Jones. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the play was part of the renowned Jungle Theater's 2011-2012 season. It was directed by Joel Sass in that venue, and Bradley Greenwald embodied the stageful of characters in an amazing tour de force performance. It ran from November 4 though December 18. In

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, ''I Am My Own Wife'' had its premiere in January 2011, in Bios Basement,

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. It was produced by Degreezero Theatre Company, translated and directed by Iossif Vardakis and performed by Haris Attonis with the original music of Marietta Fafouti who also composed a special song for the show, named "Ich Erinnere Mich" — lyrics by Dimitris Dimopoulos. It went on for 20 performances and carried on for the following season, moving to 104 theatre, in

and opening in November 2011 for the second run. It has received great acceptance and outstanding critiques both for the whole of the show but for Haris Attonis' exceptional performance, as well. The play itself and the story of Charlotte are very well-timed with the political and social situation in

. The staging itself is very minimal and it has been considered to be one of the most emotional presentations, internationally and there have been innovations like the beard and the lack of the head scarf, for the very first time. Haris Attonis won the 2012 Best Male Theatre Performance Award for ''I Am My Own Wife'' in Athens Voice Best Choice and Audience Awards and Marietta Fafouti won the 2012 Best Original Theatre Music for ''I Am My Own Wife'' in the Gay Theatre Awards. ''I Am My Own Wife'' returned to Chicago's About Face Theatre in November 2016 in a re-imagined production directed by artistic director Andrew Volkoff using four actors and featuring Delia Kropp in the role of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. This production marks the first known professional performance of the role by a trans actor. It was met with high praise from area critics as well as the author. ''I Am My Own Wife'' opened on March 14, 2019 at Out Front Theatre Company in Atlanta, Georgia featuring Peter Smith playing all roles in the show. This production marked the first professional production where a trans/gender-non-conforming performer portrays all characters in the piece. A production in 2020 at the Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, starred Mason Alexander Park. ''I Am My Own Wife'' opened at Spokane's Stage Left Theater on April 9th, 2021. Transgender actress Maeve Griffith performed all roles. The play was directed by Troy Nickerson. The production was performed worldwide over the Internet due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Awards and nominations

* 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 (Won)2004 Tony Award Winners - Complete List on Broadway World.com
/ref> * 2004: Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play ( Jefferson Mays) (Won) * 2004: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play * 2004: Lambda Literary Award for Drama

References

External links