Milwaukee Chamber Theatre Stages ‘I Am My Own Wife,’ a Solo Drama Spanning Berlin’s 20th Century
A one-actor production built around dozens of characters
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre is presenting I Am My Own Wife, Doug Wright’s one-person play centered on Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German antiques collector who founded the Gründerzeit Museum in Berlin’s Mahlsdorf district. The Milwaukee run is scheduled for January 23 through February 8, 2026, at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre.
The production is directed by Alexander Coddington and features Jonathan Riker. The play is structured as a solo performance in which a single actor shifts among a large roster of roles, a format that has become closely associated with the work since its early New York productions.
Why the play remains a touchstone in American theatre
I Am My Own Wife premiered in 2003 and later moved to Broadway. Wright received the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play, which dramatizes interviews and encounters that frame Charlotte’s life story against the upheavals of Nazi Germany, wartime destruction, and the surveillance state of East Germany.
The play’s narrative is built on a biographical investigation: it celebrates Charlotte’s determination to preserve objects and memory while also confronting contested and difficult questions raised about her past, including allegations of cooperation with East Germany’s security apparatus. That tension—between heroic public legacy and the uncertainties of private history—functions as a central engine of the drama.
Who Charlotte von Mahlsdorf was, and what she built
Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (1928–2002) was a well-known transgender figure in Germany and established the Gründerzeit Museum, a collection focused on domestic culture and material life from the late 19th century. The museum became widely associated with preservation work and, over time, with community gatherings that were politically sensitive in East Germany.
Her public profile grew in the late 20th century through film and theatre portrayals, as well as through the museum’s visibility. Historical accounts about her life include both recognition for cultural preservation and disputes about aspects of her biography, which the play incorporates into its dramatic inquiry.
Milwaukee schedule details and audience events
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s schedule includes an opening performance on January 24, 2026. A “Pay What You Choose” performance is set for January 26, and post-show talkbacks are planned for January 29 and February 5. The theatre has also listed an understudy performance for February 3.
- Run dates: January 23–February 8, 2026
- Venue: Broadway Theatre Center, Studio Theatre
- Additional events: Pay What You Choose night, talkbacks, and an understudy performance
The production frames a personal life story inside a larger record of repression, preservation, and historical uncertainty.
The Milwaukee staging brings the play’s investigative structure into a local production context, with a creative team assembled for a performance that relies on precise shifts in voice, physicality, and design to move across time, place, and viewpoint.