I Am My Own Wife

I Am My Own Wife is the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning play by Doug Wright, opening at the Brisbane Powerhouse on 4 April.

The powerful show, which enjoyed a sell-out season in Sydney and standing ovations in Melbourne, tells the story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, an elegant and eccentric 65-year-old German transgender woman who, against all odds, survived two of the most oppressive regimes of the 20th century, the Nazis and the Communists.

Not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall, playwright Doug Wright (Quills, Grey Gardens) began a conversation with von Mahlsdorf, and after hundreds of hours of interviews, Wright emerged with this fascinating and breathtaking story of survival and identity.

In the one man tour de force, Wright uses more than 30 characters—all played by NIDA graduate Ben Gerrard —to piece together Charlotte’s controversial life.

When discussing the play with the Denver Post, Wright said he was fascinated by characters that are often labelled “eccentric”.

"At the end of the day, as a writer, I’m not interested in passing judgments on my characters. I’m far more invested in merely presenting them — warts and all — with their humanity intact. And it’s not our innate goodness that makes us human; it’s the eternal wrestle between pure impulses, and our darker, more primal instincts," said Wright.

Ben Gerrard, who channels Charlotte von Mahlsdorf in this stunning performance, most recently appeared in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Hayes Theatre), as well as TV appearances in Molly (nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Drama for the 2016 AACTA awards), Open Slather, and Outland, as well as the feature film Wolf Creek 2. He last performed at Brisbane Powerhouse as part of Songs for the Fallen (Queensland Cabaret Festival 2016).

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