I Am My Own Wife Cancels Feb. 26 Show as Mays Tends to Cold

By Robert Simonson
and Kenneth Jones
26 Feb 2004

Jefferson Mays in I Am My Own Wife
Jefferson Mays in I Am My Own Wife
Photo by Joan Marcus

I Am My Own Wife, playwright Doug Wright's portrait of a steely and charming German transvestite who survived the Nazis and the communists, has canceled its Feb. 26 show, owing to a bad cold caught by star Jefferson Mays.

Mays has been battling a cold all week, said a spokesman for the show. The star of the one-person play is expected to resume performances on Feb. 27.

Wife opened at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre Dec. 3 following previews since Nov. 11.

The unique I Am My Own Wife defies easy categorization. Playwright Wright even includes himself as a character (played by Mays in what observers say is a good vocal impersonation of the author), trying to unravel the mystery of the gentle Charlotte von Mahlsdorf.

Donning black cap and a black — almost austerely religious — tunic-skirt, Mays performs more than 40 international characters involved in the world of the delicate and unflamboyant Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, who died before the play could see the light of day.

David Richenthal produces with partners Anthony Marshall and Charlene Marshall, in association with Playwrights Horizons, which staged the acclaimed Off-Broadway premiere earlier this year. Moisés Kaufman (The Laramie Project, Gross Indecency) directs, as he did in regional developmental stagings and Off Broadway.