I Am My Own Wife

Charlotte von Mahlsdorfe was a resident of East Berlin whose house acted as an unofficial museum for articles from the last ten years of the Nineteenth Century.

Charlotte von Mahlsdorfe was also Lothar Berfelde, a man who managed to live as a woman through the whole of East Germany's communist period.

Charlotte's story fascinated American journalist John Marks so much that he felt it would it would interest his playwright friend Doug Wright. This one-man play is the result of that interest and details not just Charlotte's own life but the uncovering of uncomfortable evidence concerning her relationship with the Stasi, the secret police.

All of this is grippingly fascinating as Kevin Loreque takes on the many personalities, past and present, that are part of the story but never allows you forget for a moment the central figure, dressed as he is in her customary black dress and string of pearls.

I think I was expecting a combination of Cabaret and Bent but this is no glittering drag queen before us; this is a house proud, quietly spoken, respectable German lady, even if she has preserved a gay pre-war Cabaret Bar in her basement.

It's a mark of how gently and sweetly Loreque recreates Charlotte that you really do want to take her at her own face value and discount the growing suspicions of Stasi involvement. It's a strength of the play that it never allows you to do so.

It's an amazing story, superbly told by both writer and actor. As you exit the theatre there's a breathtaking surprise on the landing with the sight of something so recently described.