I AM MY OWN WIFE directed by Janice Honeyman, starring Jeremy Crutchley (main, drama, Graeme College Friday and Saturday).

This incredible one-man drama won a Pulitzer Prize in 2004 and it’s not hard to see why after watching its South African premiere.

Jeremy Crutchley plays all the parts in this true-life drama about a 65-year-old German transvestite, born Lothar Berfelde, but known as Charlotte van Mahlsdorf, and the American man who is investigating Charlotte’s history, Doug Wright (who wrote the play).

Doug first encounters Charlotte on a trip to a museum she runs in Berlin, and becomes intrigued in her life story.

In a series of flashbacks, Charlotte, a lover of history and collector of old phonograph and gramaphone records and players, fills Doug in on the hardships she encountered in her life.

Her father was a nazi soldier, and used to abuse Charlotte’s mother.

During the Second World War, Charlotte is lucky to escape with her life on a number of occasions, firstly being hauled before an SS firing squad, before being given a last-minute reprive.

Secondly, she murders her father and the prison she is held in is destroyed in a Russian bombing when the allies reached Berlin.

And while repression for a homosexual cross-dressing teenager was hard under nazism, such practices were completely outlawed under communism.

When Doug brings the initial story of Charlotte’s life to public attention, she is awarded a medal of honour, but then more is revealed about her past, particularly how she supposedly helped the East German secret police arrest one of her friends, causing public reaction to turn against her.

It’s ironic, almost tragic that while Charlotte can survive anything the nazis and communists throw at her, she is ultimately driven out of her homeland when she becomes a celebrity late in life.

This drama is fascinating and often heart-breaking as one comes to realise just how horrific life was for ordinary people under nazism and communism.

But there are also great moments of comedy throughout the production.

Crutchley, a 30 year veteran on South African stages is phenomenal, regularly changing characters, genders and accents, although remaining in one outfit throughout – Charlotte’s simple black peasant dress with sensible shoes and a pearl string necklace.

With many scenes focusing on the old recordings, music plays an important role in the production and most of the props shown in Charlotte’s museum collection are genuine antiques from the correct time period.

The lighting and effects are also impressive at points when bombing raids or other violent events are taking place.

However, this show will not be for everyone. It’s rather long, at two hours and 20 minutes, and a number of audience members left at interval.

The subject matter is very adult in nature with Charlotte being as open about issues of a sexual nature as she is about the brutality of the regimes.

As a result, this production may not appeal to all festinos, but is a must see for the more serious theatre-goers.

Reviewed by Leon Muston ARTS EDITOR mustonl@avusa.co.za