Jane Martin (1)

A series of monologues, not really related to each other or to any particular subject, just characters talking to each other, to the audience, or to themselves. There is very little special about any of the monologues; in fact, it is their very ordinariness that actually recommends this work. It is a look at people that are believable, not hard to follow, and could be our neighbors. The main complaint is that the monologues tend toward a certain superficiality, but again, that adds to the show more sense of the ordinary that is part of this work. show less

I remember buying this at Shakespeare & Co. something like 8 years ago, and there was a kitty cat lying under the ladder downstairs with me in the drama section.I can't remember how I heard of the play, but I understand why I was drawn to it. I used to think the best were "issue" dramas, "concept" plays, and this is one for sure: a woman is kidnapped by "Operation Retrieval" from a clinic before her abortion procedure, and confined for months to prevent her from going back.I think I waited show more so long to read it, though, because some ideas lose everything the minute you put a lot of words to them. How could this idea be sustained for a play? How could it possibly end? But it gained some traction and the longer scenes occasionally blossomed. The scene on Keely's birthday was very kind. In the end, it did manage to surprise me.The coat hanger was good. show less

A series of women's monologues. Among the women: two actors, a snake handler, a woman whose mother died, a baton twirler, a woman who loves lamps, a tattooed woman. Jane Martin is a pseudonym who might be Jon Jory, formerly the impresario of Actors Theatre of Louisville.

A short and interesting read.