On the other hand, the structure also allows her to skip through her decades at ACT, leaving many aspects uncovered. It entails some repetitions of bits of history, and Perloff overuses signature adjectives (“brilliant,” “complex,” “fearless,” “transformative”).īut it gives her natural penchant for very intelligent, discursive discussion (as she acknowledges early on, she’s widely known as a “world-class talker”) free rein in literate digressions.

The structure is episodic, which can be both advantageous and frustrating. But she does devote quite a bit of space to ruminating on and wrestling with - intelligently and passionately - many of the most important issues facing America’s large regional theaters in the 21st century: lack of funding for basic operating costs and actors’ salaries, the graying audience, the need for more women in leadership roles and more diverse programming, lack of support for training programs, and the decline of arts programming in the public schools and of the humanities in general at the university level (ACT is one of very few major theater companies that also runs a fully accredited master’s program).ĭespite its “A Life in the Theater” subtitle, “Chaos” isn’t a memoir so much as a book of essays that segue from autobiographical to increasingly issue-oriented, either spinning off from or illustrated by developments in her life or that of the theater she runs. Not that Perloff lays out any road map for ACT’s future.

Judging by “Beautiful Chaos” - her new memoir-cum-meditation-cum-polemic - she’ll continue remaking what has become Carey Perloff’s ACT for the foreseeable future.

And with a much steadier hand, through more challenging economic times. This may come as a surprise to the old faithful who still refer to San Francisco’s flagship theater as “Bill Ball’s ACT,” but Artistic Director Carey Perloff has been running the American Conservatory Theater for almost a half-decade longer than founder William Ball managed to do.

Beautiful Chaos by Carey Perloff