Twenty-two years ago Jane Martin's first play premiered at the Actors Theater of Louisville in Kentucky, and ever since the controversy has followed. There is so much mystery and so many rumors wrapped up in this one single person that it is hard to find out what exactly is truthful and what is hearsay. Jane Martin seems to have no identity, no real person to stake a claim to the many plays that have struck an odd cord with their audience. Sure the playwright has a name, but that does not mean there is an identity.
             Jane Martin is a pseudonym for an unknown person. The reason for all the speculation is that she has never been personally interviewed about any of her works (Jack and Jill). In her twenty-one years of experience, there has never been a photo in a theater program, and very few, if any, details of her life have been released. Her only voice to the public, besides the written scripts that are performed, is through Jon Jory. Jory was the Artistic Director of the Actors Theater of Louisville for thirty-one years until undertaking a new position as a professor at the University of Washington's School of Drama, and he is also the playwright's spokesperson. For this reason, many people speculate that he is the real Jane Martin, which he denies publically. The Seattle Weekly reported on July 13, 1994 that Jory said,"...that Martin feels she could not write plays if people knew who she was, regardless of her identity or gender. (Jack and Jill)"
             It may very well be a good thing that her identity is kept a secret. Most of her plays reflect society or societal life in some way, and usually takes up a very debatable issue in each script. Many audience members come away from the experience livid, amused, or in deep thought, and many feel that if they knew who she was, they would strangle her (Coulbourn). Martin's main purpose is seen throughout many of her plays and usually, the point of ...