Jane Martin: Collected Plays, Vol. 2: 1996-2001

This new collection of plays brings us up-to-date with the preoccupations of Jane Martin--social satirist and purveyor of comedies and dramas that delight in popular culture, scrutinize American politics, and limn the infinite variety in human relationships. Jane Martin's plays mix the virtues of show business--meaty roles for actors, colorful dilemmas, and impassioned confrontations--with the rewards of a formidable intellect. Make no mistake about it, Jane Martin is a lively entertainer with serious intentions. Her plays, be they comic or serious or seriocomic, express a worldview that is at once empathetic and critical, familiar and surprising, endearing and savage. They teeter on a tightrope between outrageous humor and shocking violence, plummeting into both with unexpected results. - from the Foreword by Michael Bigelow Dixon, Literary Manager of the Guthrie Theater