I Am My Own Wife
Oakland Theater Project / FLAX Art and Design
1501 Martin Luther King JR Way, Oakland
March 21-April 6, 2025, viewed March 23
A trans woman who managed to survive both the Nazis and the communists, and in 1960 turned her family home in Berlin into a museum of German culture, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, née Lothar Berfelde, provides a ripe narrative for Doug Wright's award winning, one-man play I Am My Own Wife. Now at Oakland Theater Project, performed by Renee Mannequin (She/Her, He/Him), it richly explores Charlotte's story, if not her reality.
Wireless headphones were placed into our hands upon arrival at the theater, which later provided an immersive experience by adding effects to Mannequin's voice for different characters along with a carefully crafted soundscape (sound design by Michael Kelly). As a scene set under both the Nazi and Stasi regimes, the headphones added a sense of surveillance. This weighed heavily on me as the story unfurled and she showed us the pressure and secrecy required of living through these regimes as a transgender woman. Dressed in a matronly black dress and string of pearls, Mannequin deftly and irrevocably drew us into the story.
Mannequin’s portrayal of Charlotte was nothing short of enchanting. Through meticulous changes in posture, voice, and expression, she effortlessly switched between a wide array of characters—from Charlotte herself to the figures who shaped her life. Her transitions between these characters were seamless, allowing the audience to stay in the moment. It was a remarkable feat of storytelling, demanding not only versatility but a deep understanding of the complexities of Charlotte’s world.
I Am My Own Wife confronted the harsh realities of survival under oppressive regimes. The juxtaposition of Charlotte's love for preserving culture with the moral compromises she had to make to survive added layers of complexity to her character. Surrounded by phonographs, records, clocks, and Gründerzeit furniture that once belonged to her lesbian aunt, Charlotte spends her days embraced by beauty and her own memories. she managed to preserve a famous Berlin gay bar in her basement, and is civically honored for said feats of preservation. Then, darker questions arise amid her rise to fame—was she was a Stasi agent for four years?
“She doesn't run a museum, she is one,” felt like a warning that there are a hundred “truths” to every story. Each one is unique to the mind that experienced it, and few are likely to match perfectly, leaving worry about what the truth actually was. She performed a monologue, beautiful in a “so what if it's true” sort of way, leaving me feeling that Wright (who wrote himself into the narrative as a character) leaned more into the idea of Charlotte than he did a true investigation of facts.
Mannequin's portrayal, carried with empathy and tenderness, did not erase the questions that go unanswered. Having never (and hoping never to) lived under a regime as she did, I do not know what choices would have been open to her. Regardless, after watching this production, I guarantee that you will quickly want to search for more about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf to learn more. That she survived and thrived, living as she did in such a time, is nothing short of miraculous.
With LGBTQIA+ rights currently at risk, this production, directed by Michael Socrates Moran with assistance from Mylo Cardona, stands as a timely reminder of the pitfalls of allowing history to repeat itself.
I Am My Own Wife runs through April 6, 2025. For tickets visit The Oakland Theater Project website.
