Playwright and Director Nagle Jackson Has Passed Away at 88

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report the passing of Nagle Jackson, internationally renowned theater director and playwright, who died in Rhinebeck, New York, at the age of 88.

Author of 20 plays and adaptations, Mr. Jackson was a seminal figure in the American regional theater movement, serving as Artistic Director of McCarter Theatre Center (79–90), and Milwaukee Rep (71–77), and as Resident Director at American Conservatory Theater (67–70). Since his 1965 directorial debut at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he directed at most major U.S. theaters, on Broadway, and abroad.

He was beloved by actors, and all who worked with him, for his generous, caring, and intelligent approach to the craft of theater-making.  In 1987, Nagle Jackson was the first American director invited to direct in the Soviet Union, staging “The Glass Menagerie” for the Bolshoi Drama Theater in Leningrad where it remained in their repertory for 12 years. 

An esteemed  playwright, Jackson’s works include the widely performed comedy/drama “Taking Leave,” the farce “Opera Comique, and the award-winning “The Elevation of Thieves” (Onassis Foundation International Cultural Prize, 1997). Mr. Jackson directed and co-wrote the book for Clark Gesner’s musical “The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall” starring Celeste Holm, which debuted on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theater in May 1979.

He authored several adaptations for the stage as well including “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?,” “Faustus in Hell,” “A Tale of Two Cities,” and “A Christmas Carol.” A gifted educator, Jackson’s “System of Five” is used throughout the country by both actors and directors.

Jackson was a 1958 Fullbright Fellow, studying in Paris at L’Ecole de Mime with Etienne Decroux. In 1995, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Whitman College.

Mr. Jackson was preceded in death by wife Sandy Suter Jackson, and is survived by daughters Rebecca Morton and Hillary Jackson, two grandchildren, and sister, Jeannette Murphy. A celebration of Nagle’s life will be held in April 2025 in NYC. Please contact CelebrateNagleJackson@gmail.com for more information.

Photo Credit: Randall Hagadorn

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