What mama don't know: Five plays

by Jane Martin

Five Cul de sac -- Shasta Rue --- The boy who ate the moon -- Travelin' show -- Summer.

Genres: Plays

87 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Jane Martin is the pen-name of a playwright speculated to be former Actors Theatre of Louisville artistic director Jon Jory. Jon Jory, Martin's spokesperson, denies being Jane Martin but has directed the premieres of Martin's shows.

Martin has traditionally been billed as a Kentucky playwright. While speculation about her identity centers around Jory, other theories have cited former Actors Theatre of Louisville Executive Director Alexander Speer, former Actors Theatre Literary Manager Michael Bigelow Dixon, and former intern Kyle John Schmidt.

Jane Martin's key credits include Anton in Show Business, Back Story, Coup, Cementville, Criminal Hearts, Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage, Vital Signs, and Talking With... Martin's Keely and Du won the 1994 American Theater Critics Association New Play Award and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Reviews

[ems · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author -- whoever he or she actually is -- seems to think they have an ear for colloquial American speech. It comes off more like parody. I'm also left leaning more toward the author being a 'he' -- most of the female characters are pretty crudely drawn.