''I Am My Own Wife'' is a play by

Doug Wright Douglas Wright (born December 20, 1962) is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2004 for his play '' I Am My Own Wife''. Early years Wright was born in Dallas, Texas. He attended a ...

based on his conversations with the German antiquarian

Charlotte von Mahlsdorf Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (18 March 1928 – 30 April 2002) was a German transgender woman who founded the Gründerzeit Museum in Berlin-Mahlsdorf. When a local mansion was due for demolition, von Mahlsdorf was allowed to live there, and its con ...

. The one-man play premiered

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

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

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

later that year. The play was developed with

Moisés Kaufman Moisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a Venezuelan theater director, filmmaker, playwright, founder of Tectonic Theater Project, based in New York City, and co-founder of Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre. He was awarded the 2016 Nati ...

and his Tectonic Theater Project, and Kaufman also acted as director.

Jefferson Mays Lewis Jefferson Mays (born June 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Obie ...

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

, born Lothar Berfelde, who killed her father when she was a young child and survived the Nazi and Communist regimes in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

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 ...

(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 City Theatre ( sv, Stockholms stadsteater) is live performance theater located in Stockholm, Sweden. The theatre is situated near the Sergel fountain and the Stockholm City roundabout. Location It is located in one of Stockholm's m ...

, Stockholm, starring Björn Kjellman. In 2005, it had its American regional premiere at

Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is a professional equity theatre located at 1127 Vine Street in Cincinnati, Ohio that was founded in 1986. It is Greater Cincinnati’s second largest professional theatre, and until April 2012 was known as "Ensemble Thea ...

, starring Todd Almond. That production then traveled to Actors Theatre of Louisville and Florida Studio Theatre. 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

at CanStage, 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

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, 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 largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

at the Gerding Theater starring actor

Wade McCollum Wade McCollum is an American film actor, stage actor and composer/musician. Early life McCollum was born in 1978 in Chico, California. His father is a rock-n-roll drummer and McCollum spent his early life on the road traveling from town to to ...

, 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 metro ...

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 George Street Playhouse is a theater company in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the city's Civic Square government and theater district. It's one of the state's preeminent professional theaters committed to the production of new and established ...

, 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

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. 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

Port Jefferson, New York Port Jefferson (informally known as "Port Jeff") is an incorporated village in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. Officially known as the Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson, the population ...

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

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

at the Earl Arts Centre in Launceston, and the

Theatre Royal, Hobart Theatre Royal is an historic performing arts venue in central Hobart, Tasmania. It is the oldest continually operating theatre in Australia; Noël Coward once called it "a dream of a theatre" and Laurence Olivier launched a national appeal for ...

Backspace, produced by the

Tasmanian Theatre Company The Tasmanian Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Hobart, a city in the Australian state of Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption ...

and featuring Robert Jarman. In the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

, the play was premiered in 2008 by Divadlo Letí in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, 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,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, 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

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

, ''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 city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

. 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 Long Wharf Theatre is a nonprofit institution in New Haven, Connecticut, a pioneer in the not-for-profit regional theatre movement, the originator of several prominent plays, and a venue where many internationally known actors have appeared. Fou ...

, 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 (

) (Won) * 2004: Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play * 2004: Lambda Literary Award for Drama

References

External links