Notebook: Washington DC

I was having trouble getting excited to see 'I Am My Own Wife' based on what I knew: The plot is the true story of a transvestite who survived through Nazi Germany; one actor would play all of the characters. But I also knew that the play had won a Tony and a Pulitzer and that the actor had also won a Tony -- so that helped balance my skepticism. (Though when I sat down in my seat and read the playbill, I was disappointed that the actor's credentials made no mention of an appearance on 'Law & Order' -- the essential listing on every theater actor's resume.)

Turns out that 'I Am My Own Wife' is pretty amazing. An amazing story about a fascinating person who was, well, full of amazing stories -- from killing her father to collecting furniture and running a museum out of her house. The format of the play includes the playwright himself as a character interviewing his main subject -- a gimmick I was skeptical of at first but that totally works. From the start, I worried that I would have trouble keeping track of who the actor had morphed into at any one point, but his range was so great that it was easy to follow. By the end, it was one of those plays where I didn't really want it to end and I wanted to learn more about the main subject's life.

The play is only at the National Theatre through Sunday, but it's so worth seeing.

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