About Playwright Jane Martin

Jane Martin first came to the attention of American theatrical audiences when Talking With premiered at the 1981 Humana Festival of New American Plays at the Actors' Theatre of Louisville. The play received a standing ovation by audiences, critics, and even jaded theatre professionals, and was was awarded the American Theatre Critics Association Award for Best Regional Play soon after.

The fact that this and other works by Jane Martin (including Vital Signs, Cementville, the Pulitzer-nominated Keely and Du, Criminal Hearts, and Middle Aged White Guys) have received rave notices and prestigious awards is all the more interesting because no one has every seen or talked to the author.

All that is known of Jane Martin is her work. She has been referred to as "America's best known, unknown playwright." She has never made any public appearances, spoken about any of her works, or given an interview. No biographical details are known about her and no photographs of her have ever been published.

Jon Jory, Artistic Director of the Actors' Theatre of Louisville, is the spokesperson for Jane Martin and is commonly believed to be the playwright behind the pen name. Mr. Jory has repeatedly denied this, saying in a July 13, 1994 interview in the Seattle Weekly that "Martin feels she could not write plays if people knew who she was, regardless of her identity or gender." Jory claims that Jane Martin is a Kentucky native who wishes to remain anonymous. Jory added that, "The point in the end is the plays themselves. . . But if Jane's anonymity is a P.T. Barnum publicity stunt, it's one of the longest circus acts going." Despite his protestations, and supported by the fact that Jory has directed most of Martin's Louisville premieres, the most prominent theory still remains that Jane Martin is actually a pseudonym for Jory or that Jory and his wife Marcia Dixey have collaborated to produce the Jane Martin works.