Photo credit: Rupert Reid
A complex tale of survival against the odds, Doug Wright’s lauded and awarded I Am My Own Wife tells the remarkable ‘true’ story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (born Lothar Berfelde), a transvestite museum worker who survived two of 20th century Europe’s harshest regimes: Nazi Germany and communist East Germany.
Wright’s play is based on an extended series of interviews he conducted with von Mahlsdorf in the early 1990s, and is notable for its inclusion of the playwright as a character alongside dozens of others – all of them played by Ben Gerrard (Songs for the Fallen, television’s Outland) in a necklace, black dress, sensible shoes and cap.
As the play unfolds, von Mahlsdorf is revealed to be a less than trustworthy narrator, and it’s here that the drama of the piece emerges, rather than through more traditional forms of conflict. Wright wants, indeed needs to believe that Charlotte is everything she claims to be – a patron of Berlin’s queer underground; saviour of the city’s everyday history; capable of committing murder to defend herself – but as truth begins to intrude on the story Wright has assembled, von Mahlsdorf’s claims start to seem less and less reliable, and playwright and audience alike begin to question the story assembled before us.
By structuring the play in a way that presents Charlotte as both fragile and indomitable before slowly revealing some of the more questionable aspects of her personality and history, Wright ensures that we remain invested in the character and her story throughout. Director Shaun Rennie gives the script plenty of room to breathe, with Caroline Comino’s stark yet lucid set and an atmospheric and assured lighting design from Hugh Hamilton helping to anchor and focus proceedings.
Gerrard’s performance throughout is subtle, understated and compelling, and though he occasionally fails to invest minor characters with nuanced individuality, his work never feels forced or exaggerated. A scene which sees Gerrard switch between two distinctly different laughs as he shifts from character to character speaks to the skill of his performance; elsewhere he takes a relatively simple interview and invests it with achingly real emotion.
This compelling production, which premiered at the Old Fitz Theatre in late 2015, is a rare example of an independent work given additional life beyond its original Sydney season. After its Melbourne run at fortyfivedownstairs, it travels on to Brisbane for the Melt Festival at Brisbane Powerhouse; its producers are to be congratulated on their tenacity and dedication in ensuring this richly rewarding work is more widely seen.
4 stars out of 5
The Oriel Group presents
I Am My Own Wife
By Doug Wright
Director: Shaun Rennie
Lighting Designer: Hugh Hamilton
Sound Designer: Nate Edmondson
Set Designer: Caroline Comino
Performed by Ben Gerrard
fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne
17 January – 5 February 2016
Midsumma Festival
www.midsumma.org.au
15 January – 5 February 2017
