Somebody/Nobody

Here's a primer on the comedy.

The characters

The six characters include Loli, described in the script as a "small-town girl with grit"; Sheena, "B-list movie goddess"; Joe Don, "survivalist and bounty hunter"; Stalker, a "vampire wannabe with orange hair"; Galaxy, "B-list super agent"; and Beverly, a graduate student.

The play takes place in Loli's studio apartment in a working-class section of Los Angeles.

Loli has just been fired from her job as a mechanic because she hadn't shown up for work for a number of days. She's talking to her mother on the phone, explaining that she has no intention of returning to Kansas, and her mom better not send her gruff cousin Joe Don to fetch her, when someone pounds on her door.

Once convinced it's not a mass murderer, Loli lets a near-hysterical Sheena, who is trying to escape a stalker, into her apartment and life.

Sheena, a very insecure, neurotic star, wants out of fame; she wants to be free of her agent, the fans, the hysteria.

And Loli, a nobody in Sheena's eyes, just may be able to help her.

"The most important thing about this play is it's funny," said director Jon Jory in a recent interview at the ATC rehearsal hall.

"It's about identity and how we want to see ourselves."

The timing is right for a play like this, he added.

"It's a good time to do a comedy. There are few of us in America who wouldn't like a laugh."

David Ira Goldstein, ATC's artistic director, agrees we need a laugh. But there is more to this comedy than that, he said.

"I think it has a lot to say about modern life and our obsession with celebrity and status."

The elusive playwright

Jane Martin is a mystery figure among theater folk.

Goldstein has never met her. The actors in her plays never have. No pictures have been published of her. No interviews. No biographical information other than that she hails from Kentucky and prefers to remain anonymous. Nobody knows anybody who has met her. Except Jon Jory. Jory is the go-between between Martin and the rest of the world.

Which leads many to believe that Jory is Martin. Something he denies.

"I'm not going to talk about that," is his usual reply.

Jory said Martin has written a dozen plays, and he has directed nine of the premieres. Most were first seen at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where Jory was long the producing director.

"The plays turned out well," Jory said of the premieres. He said it with a completely straight face.

Among the plays Martin has written are "Keely and Du," "Anton in Show Business," "Talking With" and "Criminal Hearts."

She has been nominated for a Pulitzer, won the American Theatre Critics Association Best New Play Award twice, and snagged the Best Foreign Play of the Year Award in Germany.

"Jon and Jane have a long relationship," said Goldstein, who decided to do "Somebody/Nobody" after Jory told him a few years ago that Martin had a new work and sent it to Goldstein.

"I just communicate with Jory, who is in close contact with Jane. I assume she approves all the rewrites," said Goldstein.

The director

Jon Jory is one of the most respected directors in theater today.

He is the artistic founding director of Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Conn., has been inducted into New York's Theatre Hall of Fame, and was for 32 years the producing director at Actors Theatre of Louisville, which won a regional-theater Tony Award while he was there.

He also established the prestigious Humana Festival of New American Plays while at Louisville, and has been lauded for his deep commitment to new works.

At ATC, Jory directed last season's production of Sarah Ruhl's "The Clean House"; the 2006 production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night"; Steve Martin's "The Underpants," staged in 2004; and he adapted and directed Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" in 2005.

About premieres

There's a certain cachet for a theater company when it brings new plays to the stage.

ATC's Goldstein explains why:

"Theater artists are creative artists, and part of that is creating the new," he said.

"Anytime you take on a new play, you'll give it your own spin. But there's something about getting as close to the source as possible. Presenting new plays brings you closer to the creative spark. Everybody but the playwright is an interpreter, but the writer is the creative spark."

If you go

"Somebody/Nobody"

• Presented by: Arizona Theatre Company.

• Playwright: Jane Martin.

• Director: Jon Jory.

• When: Previews are 8 p.m. Saturday; 7 p.m. Sunday; 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; opening is 7:30 p.m. next Friday. Continues through March 28.

• Where: Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave.

• Tickets: $26-$50.

• Reservations/information: 622-2823.

• Cast: Alexandra Tavares, Jessica Martin, Jeremy Stiles Holm, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amy Kim Waschke and Claire Buchignani.

• Running time: 2 hours, with one intermission.