A Conversation with Carey Perloff / Разговор с Кэри Перлова

Reporter: Good morning, Mrs. Perloff. I'm Michael Bandler, a reporter from the magazine "Arts in America".

C. Perloff: Good morning, Michael. Nice to meet you

Reporter: Nice to meet you, too. First of all, I'd like to thank you for squeezing this interview into your heavily-loaded schedule... Many readers of our magazine write letters to us, asking about theaters in America and changes they are going through right now.

C. Perloff: Oh, there are indeed some visible and invisible changes in American theater.

Reporter: What impresses you most in the significant development of American theater nowadays?

C. Perloff: In my opinion, there are several moments. One is the renaissance of the American actor. I think so, as the standard of acting in many different genres around the country is incredible high. Next, is a unique fusion of skills that American actors possess. They can sing, can dance, and can handle a wide variety of styles. And still one more point, American theater becomes truly national, not just based in New York.

Reporter: That's great. What may be the greatest challenge facing the American theater community today?

C. Perloff: My colleagues and I think there is a real danger with the ever-tightening economy of the country. And another challenge is keeping major artists in the field. We lose them to the movie industry very quickly. The temptations of other resources are so great.

Reporter: Right. We have seen many theater actors becoming movie actors. Do you think there could be creative influences to make actors stay in the theater?

C. Perloff: Ironically, we have to thank Europeans for keeping the creative influence here. We have to thank them for keeping great American artists like director Robert Wilson in the field. Also, here in San Francisco, there are populations from all over the world. So, no matter what kind of material you are working on, you have that population as the resource tool.

Reporter: Yes, we have to admit this fact and continue the cross-culture work inside the country. Carey, I've got one last question for you. Could you envision what might happen in American theater over the next 10 years?

С. Perloff: I hope that more mid-sized theaters will emerge again. It one of the keys to the whole theater ecology. The other thing I'm really fighting for is the maintenance of core company actors. It can be the greatest thing to watch really terrific actors transform in role after role. That will let an audience in the transformative process of theater.

Reporter: Well, thank you, Carey, for such a profound theater talk. We shall see what the future has in store for the theater in America.

C. Perloff: Let’s hope for the best future. The theater needs it. Thank you for the interview. Have a good day.

Reporter: Thank you. Good-bye!