#mplstheater

I saw a play this evening. 

WOO! A theater major, seeing plays. Yes, quite a novel idea. 

Sarcasm aside, it was a beautiful play. The play was called I am my Own Wife and it was at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis.

-THEATER MAJOR RAMBLINGS TO FOLLOW-

Written by Doug Wright, it tells the personal story of Doug finding out about this German transvestite, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf- who lived through two oppressive regimes- Nazi German and Communist Germany. S/he also ran a museum of old furniture and clocks. Not only was Charlotte's story beautiful, how a person could live through such things, but the struggles Doug Wright had to go through to tell it. Apparently there were some aspects of Charlotte's past that were not quite clear- such as involvement in the Stazi (German Communist Government) and if the stories s/he told to Doug were really true.

And there was something about that aspect that really touched me. In one of Doug's interviews with Charlotte, Doug asked if Charlotte threw any old furniture away from the museum after it got too old to restore. Charlotte told Doug that you have to take everything 'as is'- not to make it look prettier than it is or layer over the years of use and character. All of the furniture in the museum was used by real people with lives, many of those lives were taken by either of the oppressive regimes. But that also translated into Doug writing the play about Charlotte, even though the stories he recorded might not have been true. He took the stories 'as is' and created this play. (Side note- I think this also translates into life- to take people 'as is' and learn about them instead of pushing them away from maybe not looking or being the type of person you usually hang around) 

The way the play was structured added to this humanity theme- one actor-- Bradley Greenwald-- played ALL the roles. There was not a single other person on the stage. Bradley played at least 30 different roles, sometimes playing roles more than once. Characters ranged from Charlotte herself, to the Stazi officers. It was stunning to see Bradley switch so quickly and effortlessly between characters. The physicality was so specific with each character, that made it really easy to follow the switches. One particularly striking moment is when Charlotte visited one of his/her friends in prison, and Bradley put his hand to the 'window' as Charlotte, and then slowly transitioned into the incarcerated friend- the hand on the window staying in place. I stopped breathing when the transition happened- it was that visually striking. I only wish that someday I would be able to capture an audience as well as Bradley does in this performance. 

Anyway, the whole play was amazing- the plot, the performance, even the set--which included a huge wardrobe looking thing that opened and closed on its own- with different themes each time- a ladies dress, a Nazi uniform (So striking), and also a series of clocks and gramophones. 

THIS is the kind of theater I want to do. The works. Topics that make people think about their relationship to the world and to history, to each other and the decisions they make and the importance of humanity. Committed acting that is polished and fun at the same time (SO many hilarious moments) and a set that is not necessarily a Guthrie set- but something to stir the imagination.