Playwright: Doug Wright. At: About Face at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets: 773-975-8150; AboutFaceTheatre.com; $40. Runs through: Dec. 10
The 2002 original of I Am My Own Wife was doubly remarkable: first, because it began life at Chicago's About Face Theatre and, second, for Jefferson Mays' tour-de-force performance in multiple roles.
Seeing this radically different staging by About Face artistic director Andrew Volkoff, I perceive that the brilliance of the original one-person production obscured the story. It's not about fascinating trans individual Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, German survivor of the Nazis and Communists. Rather, it's about Charlotte and playwright Doug Wright as an onstage character, and the back-and-forth between them sometimes obscures the line between protagonist and antagonist.
Four actors now play the various roles. Ninos Baba and Matt Holzfeind capably, and often amusingly, divide the secondary roles, leaving the principal roles to Scott Duff as Wright and Delia Kropp as Charlotte. This allows Duff and Kropp to fully inhabit their characters all the time, even when not speaking or directly engaged in stage action. Wright becomes much more important as an active participant, which is an advantage. This approach could not have been attempted without the okay of Wright, who will be in town Saturday, Nov. 19, to discuss it at the Museum of Contemporary Art. ( Perhaps, too, he'll talk about War Paint, his Broadway-bound musical that was tried out this summer at the Goodman Theatre. )
Charlotte von Mahlsdorf ( 1928-2002 ), born Lothar Barfelde, was notable for her full-time trans persona and her cultural career as founder of an important Berlin museum, for which she was given a high government award after German reunification. Revelations that she was a stasi ( East German secret police ) informer, and made-up or altered certain biographical facts, tarnished her reputation in the last decade of her life, but also revealed the complexity of her character. Writing soon after her death, Wright was free to call attention to these contradictions, which underscore the moral ambiguities of survival under Nazi and Soviet regimes, ambiguities not unique to Charlotte. The one thing Wright ignores in his portrait is her love life ( yes, she had one ), preferring instead to create an almost asexual, grandmotherly figure who enjoys observing sexual behaviors around her but not participating.
This impression is due, in part, to the serene character created by Delia Kropp, who is older than most interpreters of Charlotte and is mistress of a perpetual Mona Lisa smile, at once knowing and aloof. Kropp is utterly charming, whether Charlotte makes telling remarks or cagily changes the subject. Duff's personable portrayal balances Wright's awe of Charlotte with the writer's need to ask questions. Volkoff and cast understand the work's humor, too.
Brian Prather's setround black platform, white double doors, antique furniturehas simple elegance, while John Kelly's lighting is effectively subtle.