I Am My Own Wife April 17, 2009

'I Am My Own Wife' is the story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transvestite and fanatical collector of clocks, records, and other objects from the German Industrial era (1870 to 1900). Charlotte survived both the Nazis and the Communists, and her history got the attention of playwright Doug Wright, who began studying her life through a series of interviews beginning in 1993. During the course of his study, he discovered Charlotte's involvement in the Ministry of State Security and he began to question this highly enigmatic person's life. Before Wright was able to complete the play, Charlotte died. What he created was--as he calls it--I Am My Own Wife: A Study for a Play About the Life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf which not only tells Charlotte's story but includes Wright and his thoughts on her life.