THEATREWORKS
Professional Theatre for the Pikes Peak Region

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
18 October 2008

Contact: Drew Martorella, Executive Director
(719) 262-3232 dmartore@uccs.edu

I AM MY OWN WIFE

PULITZER PRIZE WINNING PLAY COMES TO THEATREWORKS

Charlotte von Malhsdorf was not just your average East German transvestite.

Wearing a simple black dress with pearl necklace, she somehow managed to survive the two most repressive regimes of Germany’s traumatic 20th century while collecting so much precious furniture and bric-a-brac that her house became a museum. She died a Berlin celebrity. Her astounding story has been memorably told by Doug Wright in his Pulitzer Prize winning play, I Am My Own Wife, coming to THEATREWORKS for nine performances Nov 1-9. All performances will be at the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater in University Hall on the UCCS campus in Colorado Springs.

Wright’s play is written for a single actor, who plays von Malhsdorf and 30 other characters, including the playwright himself. It is a virtuoso role (Jefferson Mays won a Tony Award for the New York production in 2004), and THEATREWORKS is fortunate to have Eric Sandvold reprise his critically acclaimed Denver performance, under the direction of Christy Montour-Larson. Roy Ballard is the set designer, Jane Spencer designs the lights, Ann Piano the costumes, and Brian Freeland the sound.

While the play’s focus is on a very particular and eccentric character, I Am My Own Wife is, as the New York Times says, “not an esoteric work, and it isn’t especially kinky.” It is the story of a real life person, based on interviews with the playwright himself, who met her in Germany before she died in 2002 at the age of 74. Her breathtaking stories are so extraordinary that the playwright himself wonders if they can be true—and his play becomes not only the biography of a remarkable woman, but also a study in how a life can be invented and constructed from tales the teller comes to believe are true.

Charlotte von Mahlsdorf was certainly an unusual character. Beginning as an effeminate boy who wrapped himself in his mother’s shawl to outwit storm troopers, she became an elegant antiquarian who preserved a whole culture in her home. Though finally larger than life and decidedly eccentric, she was also the underdog we all root for. As the playwright says, “her story reminds us that even our darkest insecurities can be a source of strength.”

To enhance and extend the experience of this production, THEATREWORKS will present two lectures on two Sundays at 2:30 before the 4:00 p.m. performances of I am my Own Wife. On 2 November, Professor Robert Sackett, Chairperson of the UCCS Department of History, will give a talk entitled, “From Weimar to Nazi Germany: Two Sexual Regimes” in which he offers a revised view of sexual tolerance and repression in Germany after the First World War. On 9 November, Chris Robertson of the Gill Foundation, and Dena Samuels, of the UCCS Matrix Center, will speak about Sexual Equality and Inclusion in contemporary society and in Colorado. Both presentations will be held in University Hall 109, and are offered free to the public.

I Am My Own Wife

Lecture Series at the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theatre

“From Weimar to Nazi Germany: Two Sexual Regimes”
November 2, 2:30 p.m. Professor Robert Sackett

“Sexual Equality in Contemporary Society”
November 9, 2:30 p.m. Chris Robertson, Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado

The lecture series is free and open to the public. Complimentary refreshments will be provided.

I Am My Own Wife

DIRECTOR:
Christy Montour-Larson

DESIGNERS:
Roy Ballard – Set Design
Jane Spencer – Lighting Designer
Ann Piano – Costume Designer

WHEN/WHERE:
October 30 – November 9
Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater
University Hall
1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
719.262.3232
www.theatreworksCS.org

TICKETS:
$25 Reserved Tickets
$15 Children Under 16
$15 Group Rate

I Am My Own Wife is not recommended for children under 13. Children under 5 will not be admitted.
For more information call the THEATREWORKS Box Office at (719) 262-3232 or e-mail: Tickets@uccs.edu. Reservations online at www.theatreworksCS.org