Jack Be Nimble: The Accidental Education of an Unintentional Director

Theater memoirs tend to be lively, perhaps because the work is so, well, theatrical and lively, and this one is no exception. O'Brien offers an exuberant, charming account of his career as a young sometime actor who became a highly successful director both on Broadway and with the APA-Phoenix Repertory Company and as artistic director at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre. He was in the field when the influences of the Moscow Art Theater and Great Britain's National Theatre were being felt in American performing arts circles and worked with some of the greatest names of the theater: Helen Hayes, John Houseman, and Eva Le Galliienne. Threading throughout much of O'Brien's memoir is his work with the brilliant, troubled actor/director Ellis Rabb and the extraordinary actress Rosemary Harris, also Rabb's wife. A bonus is the appendix, a result of a 25-page, single-spaced contemporaneous record of his time in Phoenix assisting Le Gallienne with her production of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. Covering January 14 to March 19, 1968, this addition is required reading for anyone who studies or adores the theater. O'Brien is also open about discussing his homosexuality and experience "coming out." Photos are in black and white and a helpful index is provided.