Editor’s note: The following is a reprint of our 2006 review of Curious Theatre’s production, which again stars Erik Sandvold for TheatreWorks. The ticket information at the bottom of this review now pertains to the current production in Colorado Springs.
Many people now know who Charlotte von Mahlsdorf was because of the Pulitzer-winning play “I Am My Own Wife.”
Question is, can anyone ever really know her?
Charlotte, born a man, was a prominent East German transvestite who miraculously survived from the rise of the Nazis to neo-Nazis by finding sanctuary in her museum. She was a collector of precious things at a time and place when human life was never less valued.
Doug Wright’s play is as much about how he, a gay American 30 years younger, found Charlotte, studied her, hero-worshipped her and came to desperately need to believe in her presumed heroism in the face of mounting evidence that she was also an informant for the German secret police. She was “so unbelievable,” as one reviewer put it, “She could only be real.”
“Wife” didn’t start out to be a one- man play. That grew out of workshops with Broadway actor Jefferson Mays. Wright became charmed hearing Mays shift from Charlotte’s singsong German cadences to imitating Wright’s own mellifluous voice. Beyond that, he found the one-person format strangely appropriate. Charlotte had to adopt a variety of guises in order to survive, after all, so why not let one actor adopt a variety of guises to tell her story?
The resulting script makes for a one-man tour de force. In the case of Curious Theatre’s tantalizing regional premiere, that one man is Erik Sandvold, who navigates 36 characters wearing just one primary costume: a black housecoat, head wimple, string of pearls and heavy black shoes. You might think her a nun if not for her manly features and sexually liberated beliefs.
But following in the footsteps of the Tony-winning actor who shaped the piece to fit his own unique talents makes this role a monumental challenge for anyone who follows. Sandvold succeeds by all reasonable standards. His passion is evident, his technical work precise. His character transitions are fluid, his ability to jostle mostly German accents sublime – thanks no doubt to his vast experience recording audio books. He’s flexing acting muscles he may not have known he had.
But for this performance to attain greatness, audiences should leave haunted. I felt respectfully awed, as if one of Denver’s best actors had put on a clinic. Yet I was left seated, not floored.
Part of that is on Wright – that he never addresses whether Charlotte ever sought or received real love in her life seems an oversight. And yes, part of that is on the performance. Awed New York reviewers often praised the rhythmic, musical quality to Mays’ cadence and flow. Sandvold’s line is more tunnel than arc. But with just weeks to prepare, can any actor realize the same emotional truths Mays had years to discover?
Though labeled a one-man play, rarely has storytelling been so subtly aided by lights, sound and, in this case, supertitles that help us navigate shifts in time, place – even theme. For example, one supertitle merely says
“Mythology.” It’s the play’s key segment, with Charlotte explaining to Wright her betrayal of a fellow collector in almost heroic terms.
But when Wright’s character is confronted with contrary evidence, the playwright is inviting us to take a jaundiced, journalistic eye, even though he cannot. As a gay man, Wright needs to believe there are role models like Charlotte who stood up to the most feared military regime of the 20th century.
What we are left with is a kind of necessary ambivalence. We learned by watching Sandvold perform as Dalton Trumbo’s son in Curious’ “Trumbo” how real heroes willingly suffered incredible abuse to remain true to their principles. Charlotte is not one of those people. She was true to a personal value system, which is less admirable but more understandably human. So the play becomes an acceptance that people have characteristics we can both admire and regret.
In the end, Wright asks Charlotte what she does with an antique that has lost its luster. Does she sand and apply fresh polish, or does she leave its nicks and cracks intact – those small evidences of its history? Her answer is the same Wright may offer in response to his own profound exploration of a charming, flawed human being.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
“I Am My Own Wife” *** (out of four stars)
Solo drama. Presented by TheatreWorks at the Bon Vivant Theater, 3955 Cragwood Drive, Austin Bluffs Parkway west of Union Boulevard, Colorado Springs. Directed by Christy Montour-Larson. Starring Erik Sandvold. Through Nov. 9. 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays. 2 hours. $5-$25. 719-262-3232 or
John Moore’s Q&A with playwright Doug Wright
Read unpublished excerpts from John Moore’s interview with playwright Doug Wright, including comments on how “I Am My Own Wife” was birthed as a play, and about Wright’s Transylvanian fan base,
