I Am My Own Wife
presents an acting tour de force. It offers a unique perspective on two of the great tyrannies of the 20th Century. It outlines behavior that's ethically ambiguous while leaving judgment of the behavior up to the audience. It enlarges carefully on its chosen images of witness and of time passing. What it doesn't do is move you.That doesn't mean you shouldn't go see it--in fact, it would be a shame to miss it. It's a thrilling experience artistically because its structure requires a single performer to play all the characters, often several at a time, and the astonishing Jefferson Mays makes the illusion work without a single change of costume. The piece is also exciting in its revelations of the truth about the central character, a transvestite man living as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf on the outskirts of Berlin. But don't go expecting to be able to identify with Charlotte, and not only because of her idiosyncracies of gender. Playwright Doug Wright goes out of his way to distance us from Charlotte, even making himself a character to emphasize the remove from which we see her. The choice to do so reflects Wright's judgment that only by stepping back can we see the full picture of who and what Charlotte was. His decision is correct, but if you go to the theater to have your heart touched, I Am My Own Wife is the wrong show for you.
That said, Mays's performance is simply not to be missed, as he portrays twenty-some characters simply through posture and vocal inflection. It's a rare treat to see an actor with such superb craft who doesn't showboat a little, and Mays would be within his rights to do so: he won a Tony Award for the portrayal he now brings back to Chicago, where workshops of the piece began several years ago. But instead he gives a transparent performance, one that lets all the characters shine through, and a remarkably fresh one despite the number of times he's now given it. At some point, someone else will perform the role, but for the moment I can imagine no one but Jefferson Mays embodying these characters. I look forward to seeing him in other roles, but can't help but feel sorry for those who will miss him in this one.
Credit for Mays's work--and for Wright's--must be shared with director Moisés Kaufman, who keeps his eye and ours on the story, and not just the storyteller. Kaufman makes storytelling the piece's central theme. Charlotte is a collector of antiques, and her collection of old phonographs highlights the oral tradition to which Charlotte's life story belongs, and the need to bear witness especially in difficult times. The few photos Charlotte displays make the same point: as another denizen of the prewar Berlin demi-monde would put it, she is a camera. And Wright and Kaufman together skillfully make Charlotte's collection of old clocks the focus of the plot, keeping this metaphor for the passage of time from being heavy-handed or obvious.
I had to be dragged kicking and screaming to see I Am My Own Wife in New York--just what I wanted was to see a tormented man in a dress confronting the political evils of the century. Then, of course, the show turned me completely around. The strongest praise I can give the Chicago production is that it's exactly the same as the original. Go, and be turned around yourself.