Jefferson Mays will repeat his Tony-winning turn in the solo play about German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. The Sundance Institute is also presenting a series of laboratory workshops for Polish theatre artists on April 14-16 at the Stary Theatre in Krakow, Poland in a collaboration with the Sundance Theatre Program.
Moisés Kaufman again directs the play, which was developed with the formal ongoing support of the Sundance Theatre Labs, at two different venues: The Sundance Playwright's Retreat at UCross (2000) and the Sundance Theatre Lab in Utah (2000). It was also presented as a work-in-progress at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001.
"The inclusion of a four performance run of I Am My Own Wife affords the opportunity to present a sample of the kind of work, developed in a Laboratory environment, with the very people who created it – its writer, director and performer," Philip Himberg, producing artistic director of Sundance Institute Theatre Program, said in a statement. "This residency in Krakow follows on the heels of our hosting several international theatre artists at our July Lab program in Utah over the last few seasons, including directors from Poland and Romania, as well as Kenya and Uganda."
The Sundance Theatre Laboratory, Krakow, Poland is supported, in part, through a grant from The Trust for Mutual Understanding and "is a pilot project based on the international exchange of concepts and working models between American theatre artists and their Polish counterparts as a key to fostering mutual artistic growth and experimentation."
A series of classes and workshops for Polish playwrights and directors, taught by Wright and Kaufman, will focus on playwriting and directing exercises leading to the creation of new text. The Sundance Theatre Program is a program of the Sundance Institute. Through its developmental activities at the Sundance Theatre Laboratory, The Sundance Playwrights Retreat at UCross, and the Sundance Theatre Lab at White Oak, "the Program identifies and assists emerging theatre artists, contributes to the creative growth of established artists, and encourages and supports the development of new work for the stage."
