[NEohioPAL]Berko review: I AM MY OWN WIFE (Cleveland Play House)

[Roy Berko]

COMPELLING ‘I Am My Own Wife’ AT CPH and “Joe Egg”
preview

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--
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‘I AM MY OWN WIFE, now on stage at the Cleveland Play
House, opened in New York on December 3, 2003 and ran
until October 31, 2004, having played 26 previews and
361 performances.  Audiences and critics were so
enamored with the show that it garnered the 2004
Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Play.  It
starred Jefferson Mays, who received Tony Award
recognition as Best Actor for his portrayal. 

On the surface, the story of “I AM MY OWN WIFE” is
straightforward:  a European follows a lifelong
pursuit for sexual freedom and antique furniture. 
But, that’s only the surface of what the play is all
about.  It’s the story of a real person who defied the
odds to outwit the Nazis during World War II and deal
with the communist control of East Germany during the
era of the Berlin Wall.  That would have been an
achievement for most people, but Charlotte von
Mahlsdorf was a man who lived his life as a woman. 
Dressed in high-heeled sandals and a “good” suit,
Charlotte collected furnishings from the Grunderzeit
for half a century.  In the Third Reich, Mahlsdorf
"rescued" pieces from Jewish deportees; in the German
Democratic Republic, Charlotte protected "bourgeois
cultural assets" from the Stasi.  She saved a
long-existing East German gay-lesbian bar from
destruction and moved the contents into the basement
of her house/museum where it existed for many years.

The story does not center on Charlotte’s sexuality,
but her sexuality is part of the tale.  It intensifies
the story.  Her being transgendered adds to the
intrigue.

It is interesting to note that reviews and publicity
for the play use the words “transgendered” and “cross
dressing” interchangeably.  They are not the same.  
(Let me put my psychology professor hat on here.)  
Someone who is transgendered (sometimes referred to as
“transsexual”) believes they have been born into the
wrong body.  In von Mahlsdorf’s case, early in his
life he realized that he should have been a female. 
So he led his life as a woman.  With present day
scientific advancements, von Mahlsdorf would have been
able to go through hormone replacement therapy and
operations to remove his male organs and transforming
himself into a female.  But that was not possible in
his era.  If von Mahlsdorf was a crossdresser, he
would have liked to dress in the traditional clothing
of a person of the opposite sex but not desire to be
that sex.  Research shows that most crossdressers are
mainly heterosexual.   von Mahlsdorf openly declared
herself to be a lesbian.

Though the play is acted by one man, over 30 people
are portrayed.  We watch as a member of the German
Secret Service, an aunt, a father, a barmaid, a
Russian official, a male prostitute, American
soldiers, West German officials, a prison guard, a
political dissident, a tv performer, several
neo-nazis, a TV interviewer, reporters and a
psychiatrist interact with Charlotte.  

The first act is exposition...explaining Charlotte to
us, laying the background as to who she is.  One
question that surely arises is whether Charlotte was
able to stay alive by being a collaborator.   That’s
the duty of the second act, poking holes in her story.
 Was she a true innocent who lucked out or a master
manipulator?  Was she, like her artifacts, unusual
enough to treasure and preserve or were they and she
well hidden, below the surface, and  capable of living
on through duplicity?

Mark Nelson portrays Charlotte and all the characters
with ease.  He switches roles seamlessly.  He
underplays Charlotte in such a way that it allows us
to question whether she is real or is playing a game
with us.  Whether she is editing her life so we accept
her as being what she tells us she is, or, whether she
is displaying catlike wariness intended to allow
herself to slip into our hearts and minds and ignore
the inconsistencies in her story.  

Nelson beguiles the audience with sweet tales and
harrowing ones as the character recounts her father's
brutality and the child's violent retaliation, the
experience of nearly getting shot by Nazi guards as a
teenager, and the constant harassment by the Stasi,
the East German secret police.

Nelson’s performance, effectively directed by Anders
Cato, is remarkable for its establishment of distance
and boundaries.  With a Mona Lisa-like grin, Nelson
establishes a character who can barely suppress
delight in her own uniqueness and an apparent
willingness to lie openly and frequently.   Nelson’s
von Mahlsdorf enchants us while she's reeling us in.

When she speaks, it's in German or an accented
English, often with a "yes?" at the end, as if
verifying that she has been heard and understood.  The
grin is shy, the gaze opaque.  She appears comfortable
amid a vast collection of antiques which surround her
in backwall pictures and miniatures which have been
woven expertly into an impressive set by scenic
designer Hugh Landwehr.

Those who like their dramas to have a conclusive
ending will be disappointed with Wright’s script.  We
are left with the question of who, really, is this
person?   How much of a hero or traitor she was is
open to speculation.  The author lets you take your
own guesses.  It makes for good driving home talk.

CAPSULE JUDGMENT:   ‘I AM MY OWN WIFE’ is fascinating
theatre.  Nelson’s portrayal is excellent.  The
Cleveland Play House should be proud of this
production and audiences should flock to see it.

For tickets to  ‘I AM MY OWN WIFE’ which runs through
November 27 in the  Drury Theatre of the Cleveland
Play House call 216-795-7000 or go on-line to
www.clevelandplayhouse.com. 

PREVIEW

Peter Nichols’ moving and profound play about a
struggle to cope with raising a child who is
handicapped will be performed by Charenton Theater
Company on November 17 and 18 at St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church, 2747 Fairmount Blvd, Cleveland Heights;
November 19 at the Solon Center for the Arts, 6351
S.O.M. Center Road;  November 30 at Headfooters
Outsider Art Gallery, 12610 Larchmere Blvd, Shaker
Heights; December 1, 2 and 3 at Spaces Gallery, 2220
Superior Viaduct, Cleveland; and, December 8, 9 and 10
at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ,
2592 West 14th Street, Cleveland (in Tremont).  All
performances start at 8 o’clock.  Admission is free. 
The play is directed by Sarah May.




Roy Berko's web page can be found at www.royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.


		
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