Homosexuals were persecuted during the Nazi regime in Germany. He asks whether the rumors are true that she is moving to Sweden. Source: Joyce Hart, Critical Essay on I Am My Own Wife, in Drama for Students, Thomson Gale, 2006. Zugelassene Drittanbieter verwenden diese Tools auch in Verbindung mit der Anzeige von Werbung durch uns. She talks about the war and about fearing for her life first when confronted by a military officer who threatens to shoot her and then when similarly confronted by her father. Februar 2004), Rezension aus den Vereinigten Staaten vom 7. All seats $15. Kindle-Shop . He is confused and asks Charlotte to straighten out some of the details. Publication date 2004 Topics Cultural Literacy and Humanities, Reading Level-Adult Publisher Faber and Faber Collection inlibrary; printdisabled; internetarchivebooks; china Digitizing sponsor Internet Archive Contributor Internet Archive Language English. Refer to each style’s convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. I Am My Own Wife This Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning one-person play is a fascinating true account of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, an East-Berlin … For fifty years, I've been turning its crank. Nickels sums up this difference: "There are no glamour wigs in her closet, no makeup in her medicine cabinet, no saucy gowns to wear in gay bars or outrageous drag queen antics or caustic comments while camping it up." I'm sleeping on John's floor. Enthält dieses Buch Qualitäts- oder Formatierungsprobleme? He has a revolver and threatens to kill his wife and children. Kirschner's ordeal and Charlotte's role in it become a pivotal point in the play, as Charlotte's reputation and truthfulness are challenged. The playwright struggled for several years after meeting with Charlotte, trying to conceptualize how to turn the material he had into a play. Berlin has gone through many changes since, Research three repressive societies, such as, Berlin was once known for its cabarets. Slapped onto one in bold paint are the words "Art Survives.". Find the perfect I Am My Own Wife stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Once the Berlin wall was constructed, homosexuals and transvestites in East Berlin had no place to gather. I Am My Own Wifewas the first one-person show ever to win a Pulitzer Prize, which it did in 2004. This information helped the Stasi make their arrest of Kirschner. Charlotte is in prison when the Russians bomb it. ." Charlotte talks about World War II, when Berlin was heavily bombarded by Russian splatter bombs. I Am My Own Wife tells of author Doug Wright's fascination with the life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite caught up in the great European dramas of the 20th century. "They're self-medication." You can't imagine. The 2004 Pulitzer Prize-winning play I Am My Own Wife is the work of renowned playwright Doug Wright. 5, September-October 2003, p. 50. As all good mystery writers know, one has to keep people guessing. That is another mystery. The play tells "a terrific story," Weber writes, and he concludes by calling it "the most stirring new work to appear on Broadway this fall. Thus, the actor can talk about how a certain piece might have come into Charlotte's collection or convey a certain appreciation for the workmanship of a piece merely by holding up a small, toylike table or couch. Wright's play, I Am My Own Wife opens in silence. NATIONALITY: German What is his relationship with Charlotte? Luise eventually threatens the father with a gun when he appears with a shotgun. There is another element in the stage set that is also implied: Charlotte's large collection of antiques. Prime entdecken Hallo! Is she male or female? This 2000 play focused on the subject of the Marquis de Sade and his time spent in prison. Oktober 2015, Haven't read it but don't remember ordering it; deleted it from my ebook library. Sight Unseen May 25, 2004 Jul 25, 2004 . Did she inform on her friends? And that one must show it "as is." Curiosity is aroused when Charlotte begins to reveal tidbits of her personal history. BORN: 1931, Eschwege, Germany Often, they quite ignore the audience. How could she turn in a friend? © 2019 Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. As of the summer of 2005, it was still on national tour. He will not draw any conclusions, or at least he will not present them. When the Stasi was dismantled in 1989, the police hastily attempted to destroy all their files. From the beginning, Wright has his audience members' attention, as they try to figure out what is going on. At this point, the mystery has itself transformed and spiraled, until it indeed becomes a challenge. Now she appears cunning and maybe even a little lethal. takes a little less than two hours to read all the way through, Rezension aus den Vereinigten Staaten vom 12. Before she died, Charlotte sent an envelope to Doug that he received after her death. She does so not by changing costumes but rather by standing more erect, dropping her German accent, and taking on a slight Texas twang. I Am My Own Wife is a one-man show written by Doug Wright and based on the true life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, whose autobiography is titled the same. Doug asks Charlotte what it was like to visit West Berlin after so many years of living behind the Berlin wall. Kirschner is in prison for having sold antique clocks to American soldiers. Whether it is fear of admitting what she feels or fear of physical punishment, oppression is the undercurrent when Charlotte must write and then sign an agreement with the Stasi to spy on her friends. The audience is not sure which part of the play is truth and which part has been fictionalized. … None of this would have amounted to much had Wright and Kaufman not had Jefferson Mays to play Charlotte and all the other characters in the piece—including representations of the playwright himself and assorted Nazi and East German Stasi police, American soldiers, heartless homo-hustlers, an antiques-dealing conman, and Charlotte's lesbian aunt. I Am My Own Wife: A Play (English Edition) eBook: Doug Wright: Amazon.de: Kindle-Shop. However, the overall mood of the play is that of confusion. What part of her story is true, if anything? There were demonstrations, because Cristo wants to cover it in pink tulle. I Am My Own Wife • Fri-Sat, April 9-10 at 7 pm; Sun, April 11 at 2 pm, and Thu-Sat, April 15-17 at 7 pm; Sun, April 18 at 2 pm • $25 • Streaming online; details at stagelefttheater.org. The term Stasi is taken from the German word Staatssicherheit, which means "state security." Pty Ltd The East German Stasi police discover his export violation and enlist Charlotte as an informer. Even more puzzling, she stands and faces the audience for a few moments without saying a word. Mary Coyle Chase’s Harvey has been an American favorite since it was first brought to the Broadway stage in 1944. What did it require to stay alive as an openly gay man, lesbian, or transvestite? Through the windshield, I can see fragments of the infamous wall still standing. 12 Apr. Homosexual and transvestite prisoners were forced to wear pink triangle badges to identify themselves in the camps, a practice that has since been converted to a positive symbol: the pink triangle has been adopted by gay men and women as an emblem of solidarity. The relationship between Charlotte and the audience is changing: they are drawing closer together. But perhaps Charlotte can clear this all up. John is the one who tells Doug about Charlotte and encourages him to come to Berlin to interview her. John and Doug briefly discuss Charlotte's Stasi file. I AM MY OWN WIFE by Doug Wright Directed by Jackson Cooper Featuring Brian Westbrook Location: Umstead Park UCC, Raleigh. He first captured an Obie for Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting and the Kesselring Award for Best American Play with Quills. Prieur, Annick, Mema's House, Mexico City: On Transvestites, Queens, and Machos, University of Chicago Press, 1999. The theme of nontraditional genders runs through the first half of the play, but by the time the play reaches its conclusion, this theme is immaterial. (April 12, 2021). John writes a letter (which is read) to Doug Wright, telling him of Charlotte. The Official Page for the Australian production of Doug Wright's brilliant one-man play I AM MY OWN WIFE By arrangement with Hal Leonard Aust. It would save Germany the cost of demolishing the old buildings that he so disliked. Poor Charlotte, the audience might be thinking. In 1944, the city was divided four ways with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union taking control of different zones. No matter what people want to see or hear, I'll show or play it. Why does she not answer questions directly? There are contradictions in the play and moral issues that go unanswered. An author might use pseudo-documentary to bend a true story toward a particular idea, making certain implications. Thanks for reading OUTinPerth. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine andere Ausgabe: Um die Gesamtbewertung der Sterne und die prozentuale Aufschlüsselung nach Sternen zu berechnen, verwenden wir keinen einfachen Durchschnitt. There are not many books written about transvestites. Until the revelation that she has betrayed Kirschner, Charlotte seemed sweet and endearing. Source: Allen Ellenzweig, "One-Woman Show," in Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Vol. Rather, as Charlotte reads Kirschner's letters, nothing but friendship is indicated. I Am My Own Wife, Melbourne, Australia. DOUG: She ushers us into the foyer of the museum. Charlotte and her mother stay with Luise to escape Charlotte's father's brutal beatings. Standing before us is a huge, weather-beaten mansion made entirely of stone. She is a lesbian and encourages Charlotte to explore her own definition of sexuality. By 2001, only three hundred bags of files had been put back together again. A neo-Nazi talks: "Hitler forgot to shove you in an oven in Sachsenhausen!" Charlotte confirms this. "I need to believe in her stories as much as she does!" The stage is empty for a short time before Charlotte reappears. Charlotte felt that she was a "female spirit trapped in a male body" and always referred to herself as "she." Her only extravagance was a simple pearl necklace. One has to learn to live with the uncertainty that mysteries present. 1, January/February 2004, pp. "Her stories aren't lies, per se," Jorgensen states. A transvestite and celebrated antiques dealer who successfully navigated the two most oppressive regimes of the past century-the Nazis and the Communists--while openly gay and defiantly in drag, von Mahlsdorf was both hailed as a cultural hero and accused of colluding with the Stasi. He wonders how many of the Christmas holiday tourists would be drawn to see it. Ziggy Fluss, a talk-show host, interviews Charlotte, calling her "Trannie Granny." In the introduction to the published version of his play, Wright comments on his own sense of oppression growing up as a gay man in Texas. In retribution, Charlotte steals into his room one night and murders him. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. In other words, the play tells a story. "What is going on?" (And, believe me, I use theterm "she" loosely.) Encyclopedia.com. The theme of oppression begins with the presentation of Charlotte's father, who bullies Charlotte's mother, aunt, and siblings. By having "Doug Wright" enter the narrative as a character, the play explores the dramatist's evolving relations with Charlotte and becomes an inquiry about truth and fiction—how much of what she has told him about her past, and therefore told the audience, is verifiable? THEMES She had survived so much more than Wright had. The German S.S. officers were looking for boys to recruit. Try to uncover some of the music that might have been played in a cabaret. I Am My Own Wife is the winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The audience also learns of some of the challenges that the author had to face in presenting Charlotte's story. Wife is directed by Moises Kaufman, whose previous credits include Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and The Laramie Project. This sense of doubt lingers to the end, leaving the audience in a perplexed state, which may be the whole point of the play. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. 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