“I Am My Own Wife”
Hartford Stage, Hartford
Through May 13
By Bernadette Johnson
Phew! What an exhausting role! James Lecesne makes it look easy. He does a phenomenal job in this one-man show that is peopled with a cast of at least 34 characters (count them in the program), including the play’s author himself. Lecesne never leaves the stage and shifts seamlessly from one character to another with a simple twist or turn, changing voice, intonation, posturing, and even languages, speaking German just as fluently as English (though this reviewer does not know German, a patron was heard to remark that his German was excellent). Much credit is due to vocal and dialect coach Ralph Zito.
Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning “I Am My Own Wife” chronicles the true (or mostly true) tale of Lothar Berfelde, a woman in a man’s body, aka Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a celebrity in her own right, museum curator/obsessive collector of antique furniture, gramophones and music machines of all sorts. Berfelde was a transvestite caught up in the maelstrom of World War II Germany and the ensuing Russian invasion, whose museum basement became a gathering place for the persecuted gays and lesbians of the Nazi/Communist regimes. It is also revealed that key to her survival was her role as an informant.
Lecesne is most convincing and fascinating as the incredible Charlotte. Other roles, that of the play’s author in particular, though still most remarkable, were sometimes hurried and confusing. With very little to work with, simple props and therefore, few distractions for the audience, Lecesne is totally focused, the quintessential story-teller.
Kris Stone (scenic design) and Marcus Doshi (lighting) depict a museum that is ornate in its very simplicity, a backdrop, a supporting character of sorts, in which the gramophone figures prominently.
Be prepared to wonder. Be prepared to laugh. Be prepared to enter into the intrigue.
Through May 13
By Bernadette Johnson
Phew! What an exhausting role! James Lecesne makes it look easy. He does a phenomenal job in this one-man show that is peopled with a cast of at least 34 characters (count them in the program), including the play’s author himself. Lecesne never leaves the stage and shifts seamlessly from one character to another with a simple twist or turn, changing voice, intonation, posturing, and even languages, speaking German just as fluently as English (though this reviewer does not know German, a patron was heard to remark that his German was excellent). Much credit is due to vocal and dialect coach Ralph Zito.
Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning “I Am My Own Wife” chronicles the true (or mostly true) tale of Lothar Berfelde, a woman in a man’s body, aka Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a celebrity in her own right, museum curator/obsessive collector of antique furniture, gramophones and music machines of all sorts. Berfelde was a transvestite caught up in the maelstrom of World War II Germany and the ensuing Russian invasion, whose museum basement became a gathering place for the persecuted gays and lesbians of the Nazi/Communist regimes. It is also revealed that key to her survival was her role as an informant.
Lecesne is most convincing and fascinating as the incredible Charlotte. Other roles, that of the play’s author in particular, though still most remarkable, were sometimes hurried and confusing. With very little to work with, simple props and therefore, few distractions for the audience, Lecesne is totally focused, the quintessential story-teller.
Kris Stone (scenic design) and Marcus Doshi (lighting) depict a museum that is ornate in its very simplicity, a backdrop, a supporting character of sorts, in which the gramophone figures prominently.
Be prepared to wonder. Be prepared to laugh. Be prepared to enter into the intrigue.
Labels: greater hartford, hartford stage, i am my own wife, theatre
