An Extraordinary Conversation with Jack O’Brien
Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein (left) and Artistic Director Emeritus Jack O’Brien at the public discussion event on December 2, 2013 at the Old Globe Theatre. Photo by Doug Gates.
By Ginny Ollis
The Old Globe Theatre was full of “family.” San Diego Union Tribune (SDUT) “Critic Emeritus” Welton Jones; our nation’s premier theatre head-hunter, Tom Hall, who was “managing director” of the Old Globe for 19 years, including the “O’Brien era;” renowned actors like William Anton and Jonathan McMurtry; prominent donors; production people; artists from other theatres; such as Jill Drexler, artistic director of Scripps Ranch Theatre; and the hundreds of fans whose job was applause, filled the large theatre to capacity with excitement and belonging. On this Monday, December 2, Jack was back!
The new Old Globe Artistic Director, Barry Edelstein, confirmed that he may be the “promise-picked-up” for the first time since O’Brien moved on to New York, by inviting the three-time Tony winner to revisit the scene where he had been part of the triumvirate that put The Old Globe on the national map.
Jack O’Brien accepted his wild welcome and ebullient praise with a shrug. “I’m Irish. I’m a word drunk,” he explained, when asked how he had become attracted to the theatre, to language and sound. Listening to his facile tongue, his truth was obvious. Living in the theatre was his paean to the witness of greatness and creativity he was given, perhaps a substitute to the children he never had, he said.
From childhood he had a burning desire to show off, something, he chuckled, that is a terrible addiction for a director to overcome. Directors must also eschew the desire to be everyone’s friend all the time, his other addiction. It takes the truth to engender trust, and a director without trust is powerless.
Part of being “great” at anything means being able to distinguish the mundane from the truly outstanding. O’Brien scoffed at the “Anglophiliacs” who believe that, if it plays in London, it is automatically stellar. He gave credit to the San Diego Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse and other regional houses that have contributed to the national theatre scene. He also credited the historical time of his life, when the post-war “myth” and world stage of our country made us believe we needed great culture and fostered theatre, imagination, vision. As in his book, “Jack Be Nimble: The Accidental Education of an Unintentional Director,” (which happily is to be followed by a second!) he credits those theatre names who took him in and galvanized his art. Very interesting that he was asked if genius always combines with crazy, and he mentioned two exceptions, Tom Stoppard and our own Craig Noel, who are genius and normal. Which of course is one of Jack’s great gifts and engenders trust: he is a genius and interested in other people! He also pointed out that nobody wanders into the theatre, they are all taken, that we, the “family” of the theatre need to remember to bring someone and introduce them to the magic that is great theatre!
Category: Entertainment, Local News
