I AM MY OWN WIFE Makes WA Premiere at Studio Underground

Gay hero? Killer? Stasi informant?

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play, I Am My Own Wife is an examination of the life of German antiquarian Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. Born Lothar Berfelde, she killed her father when she was 12 years old, was sentenced to four years in juvenile prison and survived the Nazi and Communist regimes in plain sight as a transvestite.

As an adult she lived just as provocatively, running a museum of furniture and everyday objects sourced from destroyed and abandoned houses in Berlin. A museum that became well known as a hangout for the local LGBTI community, with a secret Weimar cabaret dive bar in the basement.

Doug Wright skilfully uses more than 30 characters, himself included, to masterfully tell - through interviews, recollections of selective encounters, letters and song - the struggle and triumph of Charlotte's extraordinary life. A truly engaging and dynamic Broadway biography that will disarm and fascinate!

Performances take place on 12 to 29 October 2017. For tickets visit ticketek.com.au.

Photo credit: Robert Frith