philly.com – By A.D. Amorosi – For The Inquirer
In I Am My Own Wife, playwright Doug Wright tells the true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf – a German transvestite who despite her dicey sexual identity somehow survived both the Nazi regime and the Communist dictatorship that followed – with a single actor playing three dozen roles.
At the heart of this grueling, poignant theatrical piece is the singular relationship between Wright and the by-then-celebrated Mahlsdorf (born Lothar Berfelde), whom the playwright met in 1993. (She died in 2002 at 74.)