LEST WE FORGET JUDITH MARTIN
(August 13, 1918 - July 30, 2012)

She developed a contemporary theater for children.

 Judith Iris Martin, the daughter of immigrants from Russia, grew up in Newark, New Jersey and commuted to Manhattan for dance and drama lessons. She later studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater under the famed actress Maria Ouspenskaya.

She also helped run the dance project of the National Youth Administration, a New Deal agency, studied dance with Martha Graham, and performed with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

She co-founded The Paper Bag Players in 1958. She wrote, designed, choreographed, directed, and performed in 35 Paper Bag Players shows. As artistic director from 1963-2009, she developed a contemporary theater for children. The shows intimately reflected a child's world. Each story was taken from a child's experience and unfolded in a theatrical environment made of the simplest of everyday objects: cardboard boxes, paper bags, and found household objects children recognize and in fact play with. Even the littlest of theatergoers felt a part of the action, thrilled to see their imaginations and fantasies so vividly reflected.  In her work with children she began to experiment with improvisations and to develop her own understanding of what captures the imagination of children and holds their interest.

The Paper Bag Players' popularity grew by leaps and bounds. From performances on the Lower East Side at the Living Theater and the
Henry Street Settlement, the company had soon toured in 37 states, Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, Israel, Iran, Egypt, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan.

Theater critics, from Clive Barnes who called Ms. Martin "a national treasure," to Charles Marowitz who praised The Paper Bag Players' ability to "reach children at their level of consciousness" hailed the company's work. Awards include an OBIE for, "raising the level of children's theater through intelligence and imagination."

The troupe's approach was to do quick, witty skits--12 to 15 in a one-hour show--on aspects of children's lives, from sleepovers to homework to taking baths. Bouncy music from a harpsichord or piano propelled the antic, vaudeville-like capers.
It was one of the first children's theater groups to appear on educational television, and it attracted support from the National Endowment for the Arts, which enabled it to keep ticket prices low. The troupe's many awards included three from the American Theater Wing.

Judith Martin said about performing for children, "Ours is a lovely field to work in. It compels you to do something more basic, more fun-loving, more joyous. It is a great support to your imagination."

The Paper Bag Players used people of all sizes, ages, and physical characteristics in the performances. They felt that children could more easily identify with people who look and act normal. It was not unusual to have performers to go into the audience to involve the children.







Resources:  International New York Times obituary, July 31, 1012 by Douglas Martin
Jewish Women's Archive:  Judith Martin, Children's Theater Artist 1918-2012