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Boston Theatre Works proudly presents I Am My Own Wife
August 1, 2006
[BOSTON, MA] Boston Theatre Works kicks off the 06/07 season in September with the local regional premiere of the 2004 Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning play I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright. Described by The New York Times as “…nothing short of breathtaking” and “the most exquisite offering of the Broadway season,” the one-man play stars American Repertory Theatre company actor Thomas Derrah and is presented by special arrangement with A.R.T. at Zero Arrow Theatre. BTW Artistic Director Jason Southerland (BTW’s Elliot Norton Award-winning productions of Not About Nightingales and The Laramie Project) will direct.
Written by Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife tells the true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, an East German transvestite who “navigated a path between the two most repressive regimes the Western world has ever known – the Nazis and the communists – in a pair of heels.” Wright, one of more than 30 characters in his play, is driven to uncover the truth of Charlotte's controversial past in this highly theatrical journey.
“Doug has created a stunning meditation on twentieth-century history with personal stories that Charlotte told him over a two-year period after the fall of the Berlin Wall,” Southerland said. “Like a detective on the trail of a great mystery, Wright slowly unravels the secrets of her life, and by doing so discovers something profound about himself and the world around him. It really is the most remarkable journey of self-realization, beautifully written and a pleasure to behold. Having Thomas Derrah embody this journey makes it doubly exciting for us.”
Wright received the Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award for Best Play, the Drama Desk Award, a GLAAD Media Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Drama League Award and a Lucille Lortel Award for I Am My Own Wife, which premiered at Playwrights Horizons in 2003 and later moved to the Lyceum Theatre. It has since toured Europe and Australia, winning critical praise and awards wherever it goes. Wright’s other work includes the critically-acclaimed Quills, which he later adapted for film, and the Off- Broadway musical Grey Gardens, which opened in March and will move to Broadway in October.
Charlotte von Mahlsdorf was born Lothar Berfelde on March 18, 1928 in Mahlsdorf, an eastern suburb of Berlin. He murdered his abusive Nazi father in 1943. He was released from juvenile detention after the fall of the Third Reich and began to adopt a feminine lifestyle, taking the name Charlotte after the lover of his lesbian aunt who was murdered by the Nazis. In 1959 she took possession of a dilapidated mansion in Mahlsdorf and began restoration, opening it a year later as the Gründerzeit Museum, a privately run museum displaying her vast collection of furniture and household items from the last decade of the 19th century. It became well known as a gathering place for artistic and gay circles and was one of the few places homosexuals could gather in East Berlin. In 1971 was enlisted as an informant by the Stasi. After the reunification of East and West Germany, Charlotte was honored for her preservation efforts with the Federal Service Cross. She published her autobiography, I Am My Own Woman, in 1995, but public reaction to details in her Stasi file and an attack by neo-Nazis on a gathering of gays and lesbians at her museum caused her to move to Sweden in 1997. She died of heart failure on April 30, 2002 on the grounds of the Gründerzeit Museum.
Thomas Derrah an American Repertory Theatre company member, has appeared in over eighty roles. Most recently, he has appeared in Three Sisters, Carmen, Olly’s Prison, Shlemiel the First, and Romeo and Juliet. On Broadway, Derrah performed in An American Life (twenty-three roles), Off Broadway in Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas and Big Time. Derrah tours with the company across the U.S., with residencies in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and throughout Europe, Canada, Israel, Taiwan, Japan, and Moscow. Mr. Derrah has won numerous awards including the 1994 Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence, the 2000 IRNE Award for Best Actor, and the 1997 Los Angeles Drama Logue Award. Other credits include PBS’s Fool’s Fire, A&E’s Unsolved Mysteries, and Mystic River (film). He is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, an acting instructor at the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, Harvard Extension School, and Harvard Summer School.
Doug Wright is an award-wining American playwright. Well known for his play Quills, Wright won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Play, the 2004 Pulitzer Prize, and a dozen other awards for I Am My Own Wife. Quills earned him an Obie Award for playwriting and the Kesselring Award for Best New American Play from the National Arts Club. The screenplay Quills, was nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe; was named Best Picture by the National Board of Review; and received the Paul Selvin Award from the Writers Guild of America. His plays have been produced at the New York Theatre Workshop, Lincoln Center, WPA Theatre, the Geffen Playhouse and others. Wright is a member on the Board of the New York Theatre Workshop, the Dramatists Guild, and the Writers Guild of America.
Tickets range from $22 for students to $40 for adults and may be purchased via the web at www.BostonTheatreWorks.com, or by calling 866.811.4111. Box office fees apply. During performances the box office will remain open 1 hour after curtain. Approximate running time is 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission.
(additional service charges may apply):
Performance Schedule:
Tuesday Sept. 26/Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m. adults $35, seniors $32
Wednesday/Thursday Evening, 7:30 p.m. adults $35, seniors $32
Friday/Saturday Evening, 8 p.m. adults $40, seniors $37
Sunday Matinee, 3 p.m. adults $35, seniors $32
Press Performances:
Saturday Sept. 16, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday Sept. 17, 3:00 p.m.
Special Events:
Second Sunday Artist Talkback with Thomas Derrah and Jason Southerland
Sunday Sept. 23, 5:00 p.m. (free and open to the public)
Discounted Prices:
Senior prices are valid at age 62+ ($3 off ticket)
Reserved student price is $22 with valid student ID
Group rates available for parties of 10 or more by calling 617.728.4321
“Student Rush” price is $10 cash, night of performance, 1 hour before curtain, with valid ID.
Pay What You Can- Thursday Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m.
The Improper Bostonian calls Zero Arrow “Boston’s Best New Theater.” Zero Arrow is the American Repertory Theatre’s flexible, intimate second performance space, housed at the intersection of Arrow Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. This 300-seat theatre serves as an incubator for new work, hosts performances by the A.R.T./MXAT Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, and collaborates with other organizations. Zero Arrow is committed to presenting adventurous new work, young artists, and multiple disciplines at affordable prices.
Zero Arrow Theatre is located at 2 Arrow Street in Harvard Square, Cambridge and is accessible via the MBTA on the Red Line, Harvard Station. Valet parking is available at Grafton Street Pub & Grill for $12 (1230 Massachusetts Avenue, corner of Bow Street), beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday evenings. Grafton Street also offers free parking to theatre patrons who spend $50 in the restaurant. Self-parking is available at the Charles Hotel Garage (One Bennett Street coupon available, call 617.491.0298 for current rates), the University Place Garage (617.491.0801), and The Inn at Harvard (1201 Massachusetts Avenue) for $16. Metered parking available in the surrounding area. For more info on directions and parking, log on to hwww.BostonTheatreWorks.com and click on the I Am My Own Wife logo.
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