SEPT 18—26
BABS’LAB

SEPT 18 Miriam Dillard & Dave Baldwin | SEPT 19 Margaret Barton & Tom Kimbrough and Holly & Redgie Gutshall | SEPT 20 Mary Robison | SEPT 25 Dimitri Demopoulos

SEASON 2026 sponsored in part by Harry Reagan

THE 5 & DIME, in partnership with BABS’LAB, presents

I AM MY OWN WIFE

written by Doug Wright
directed by Kristen Walsh

Her survival was an act of resistance.

The true story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, an East German transgender woman who lived through both the Nazi and Communist regimes. An unforgettable portrait of identity and resilience, truth and transformation.

“It is both a bold and delicate flower of a play: a work of theater that quietly teaches us how to see, and listen, anew.” — The New York Times

STARRING

Trevor Kluckman
Jack Permenter
Benjamin Sandlin
Nathan Dasher

“Review excerpt will go here …”
Ray Hollister, JaxPlays | READ THE FULL REVIEW

photographer: Jon Scherf

PRODUCTION TEAM

Director: Kristen Walsh
Stage Manager / Scenic Designer / Set Construction: Maya Williams
Technical Director / Production Manager: Ryan Walker
Costume Designer: Shelby Ellis
Prop Master: Shelli D. Long
Lighting Designer: Nicole K. Anderson
Sound Designer: Erik Anderson
Stagehand: Jordan Godkin
Box Office Manager: Krysten Bennett
House & Bar Manager: Christian Cabrera
Production Photographer: Jon Scherf
Promotional Photography / Graphic Design / Webmaster: Caryl Butterley

RESOURCES

JASMYN.org • PFLAG.org • TheTrevorProject.org • TransEquality.org

If you are interested in further exploring the themes addressed in this production, we suggest the following books:

Non-Fiction and Memoir

I Am My Own Wife: The True Story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf by Charlotte von Mahlsdorf
Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us by Kate Bornstein
Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg
Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and their Families by Peggy Gillespie
Becoming a Visible Man by Jamison Green
States of Liberation: Gay Men Between Dictatorship and Democracy in Cold War Germany by Samuel Clowes Huneke
He’s My Daughter: A Mother’s Journey to Acceptance by Eve Langley

Adult Fiction

Nevada by Imogen Binnie
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett
Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg
Manywhere: Stories by Morgan Thomas

Young Adult Fiction

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
Melissa (originally published as George) by Alex Gino
Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff
Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky

Young Adult Non-Fiction

This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson

Films

Boys Don’t Cry • Breakfast on Pluto • Cabaret • The Danish Girl • The Einstein of Sex • Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate (Documentary)

Podcast

Bad Gays Podcast