Pittsburgh Tribune Review – Alice T. Carter – Theater Critic
Somewhere near the end of “I Am My Own Wife,” Charlotte von Mahlsdorf explains why she resisted touching up the furniture that she collected for her museum.
The nicks, cuts, wear spots and defects are what makes them real and authentic, she says.
Playwright Doug Wright exhibits a similar philosophy in portraying this central character in his single-performer show.
Born as a man in 1928, transvestite Lothar Berfelde lived openly as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf in Nazi Germany and in the repressive Communist-controlled East German republic that followed World War II.
Wright’s play follows Charlotte’s life as she survives and even thrives under conditions that often are as horrific as they are amazing