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Event Detail:

Chris Hawley in 'I Am My Own Wife'
November 05, 2009 - November 07, 2009
STARTS: 8:00, 2:00 Matinee Nov. 7
LOCATION: The Paradise Theatre School

The Paradise Theatre School is proud to bring back, by popular demand, a Pulitzer Prize winning play. I AM MY OWN WIFE tells an amazing story based on a real person, Charlotte von Mahlsdorf , a soft-spoken but tenaciously gender-bending biological male who died in 2002 at 74. Her lifelong obsession -- Mahlsdorf preferred to be thought of as female -- was the preservation of furniture, especially pieces from the 1890's, and other household relics like Victrolas and gramophones.

I AM MY OWN WIFE is about Charlotte enduring the cruel repressions of the Nazis and the Communists, and her harrowing and at times hilarious tales of survival are astonishing. But are Charlotte's stories true? Does it matter? Or is it more important that she survived to tell her story no matter how embellished it may be? When we tell our life story are we trying to confirm our existence?

Chris Hawley enacts all the various perspectives on Charlotte's life in this solo performance. The characters include a television talk show host, more than a few brutal authoritarians, several of Charlotte's family members and friends, as well as Mr. Wright, the playwright himself. The total number of characters is 35, each with a separate voice and many with differing accents.

"Chris is mesmerizing when he is inhabiting the play's many personas." Says director Pattie Miles Van Beuzekom.

Port Townsend native Chris Hawley has been involved in the performing arts most of his life. This is his second appearance at the Paradise, his first being in "The Last Paving Stone." He has also appeared in several productions with Key City Players and Olympic Shakespeare Productions over the years.

In his real life, he works in the production department of The Leader newspaper, and is director of music ministry at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church.

In his spare time he dabbles in composing and playwriting. He has had a one-act play performed in New York, and a number of his liturgical compositions have been distributed worldwide through his website, SaintChristopherMusic.com.

He also manages the Gudlife.com website and e-list for the homo/bi/trans community of the Pacific Northwest. "I am grateful for this opportunity to explore such a wide range of characters while crossing gender barriers and norms, and I looks forward to growing from the experience." says Hawley.

The Paradise Theatre School is located in the old country chapel with the red roof at 161 Center Road in Chimacum just south of the Beaver Valley and Center crossroads.

Dates at The Paradise Theatre School: Thursday, November 5, 8pm (pay-what-you-can), Friday, November 6, 8pm, and Saturday, November 7, 2pm and 8pm.

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