Gulfshore Playhouse to Present I AM MY OWN WIFE, Beginning 1/17

Gulfshore Playhouse continues their spectacular seventh season with the one-man Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "I Am My Own Wife" by Doug Wright, playing January 18 through February 3, 2013, with a preview performance on January 17th.

Based on a true story, I Am My Own Wife is inspired by interviews conducted by the playwright over several years and tells the fascinating tale of Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf, a German man who managed to survive both the Nazi onslaught and the repressive East German Communist regime, as a cross-dressing museum owner. One actor plays over 30 roles, sky-diving from accent to accent and gender to gender. This Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize and Drama Desk Award-winning play is a one man tour-de-force about survival, freedom and what it means to be truly human.

A play which very subtly but in the end quite powerfully makes a case for the necessity of storytelling in our lives, I Am My Own Wife reminds us that lives themselves are narratives and that the perspective, sympathy and reliability of the narrator are crucial to our understanding of them. In other words, to endure the world, people may lie about themselves or to themselves, and the lies eventually become as important as the truth.

Founder and Producing Artistic Director Kristen Coury will direct the production. "I am thrilled to be able to direct this Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-winning play. I remember being riveted by it when I saw it on Broadway. With its nuanced performance and relevant universal themes, I am sure this will be a true crowd-pleaser."

All roles will be played by Kraig Swartz. Kraig has previously appeared Off-Broadway in The Voysey Inheritence and The Madras House (both at the Mint Theatre) Tartuffe (Pearl Theatre), Jungle Book (BAM) and the Drama Desk Award-nominated So Help Me God, starring Kristin Johnston, at the Lucille Lortel. In Philadelphia, he appeared as Mason Marzak in Take Me Out (Barrymore Award) and as Sam in Fully Committed (Barrymore Award) both at Philadelphia Theatre Company, and Betty/Edward in Cloud 9 at The Wilma Theatre (Barrymore Award nomination). Chicago credits include: Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens, and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.

Gulfshore Playhouse is partnering with the Holocaust Museum and Education Center of SWFL with two great deals for patrons! With a ticket stub from I Am My Own Wife, patrons will receive half off the regular ticket price at the Holocaust Museum and Education Center of SWFL. Likewise, with a ticket stub from the museum, patrons will receive 10% off their ticket to I Am My Own Wife.

Take advantage of our exclusive dinner deal with the new The Chapel Grill. This seasonal menu features three courses plus a glass of wine or champagne for just $29.95! Reservations can be made between 5:00 - 6:15 p.m. To take advantage of this special dinner deal, Gulfshore Playhouse patrons must call The Chapel Grill for reservations at (239) 206-4310 and provide their Gulfshore Playhouse e-mail ticket confirmation when they visit the restaurant. This deal is valid only on the date a patron is attending a Gulfshore Playhouse production.

On January 27th, in honor of the United Nation's International Day of Commemoration Memory the of the Holocaust, our Synergy Series panel discussion will feature Jacques & Sabine Van Dam, two survivors of the Holocaust, and Dr. Deeb Kitchen, Instructor in Florida Gulf Coast University's Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Everyone is welcome to join us for an informative, interesting and interactive panel discussion following the 3 p.m. matinee (approximately 5 p.m.).

Gulfshore Playhouse is Naples' first and finest professional theatre company offering a variety of stimulating, thought-provoking and entertaining productions from important classics to Broadway hits and innovative new works. Our shows are conceived and created in-house using a team of professional designers and technicians as well as Equity actors with credits ranging from Broadway shows to film and television.

The Gulfshore Playhouse Theatre Education Project serves Southwest Florida through a wide variety of unique educational opportunities. Our programming provides people from our diverse community accessibility to the art of theatre. Program offerings range from ART SMART, our in-school residencies which teach content curriculum through the lively art of theatre during the school day, to the STAR (Student Theatre Artist in Residence) after-school theatre classes and Theatre Summer Camps. We offer a variety of educational opportunities for adults, from rigorous internship programs to Professional Training Series classes taught by professional actors and members of the Gulfshore Playhouse creative team, and our newly unveiled Synergy Series, a series of panel discussions and talk-backs relating to our Mainstage productions.

Four-show and three-show subscriptions and single tickets are available now! Single tickets start at $33. Half-price tickets are available for all matinee performances one-half hour before the show. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 1-866-811-4111 or visiting our website at www.gulfshoreplayhouse.org.