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American Theatre AbroadThe European View The relationship of American culture to European culture has helped shape the ideas, tastes, and styles that characterize the American culture. Europeans in the post-war period have looked increasingly across the ocean as the American arts provided a liberating alternative to official Culture on the continent. Ever since La Mama and the Living Theatre made their first tours to Europe in the '60s, American theatre began to influence European artists' ways of working, in all respects. At the same time, directors such as Peter Brook and Jerzy Grotowski changed the course of American theatre. Artists from both continents have been used to this cross-fertilization, even as there is now a growing trend for western theatre people to look to the East for new inspiration. Whether one calls the politics of artistic exchange "interculturalism ," "colonialism," "international avant-garde," or "imperialism ," the issues are complex, the future directions even more so. The economics of individual countries, evolving audience tastes, local politics, and individual artistic change have fixed the issue of American artists working abroad in a new social frame-in some places they may not be welcome, in others they may have worn out their welcome, in still others they helped Europeans find a way to restructure their theatre systems. How did American theatre influence European theatre? What did it bring back to America? How is American work now regarded abroad? What role do governments play in cultural brokerage? These are some of the questions raised in this section of interviews with Philippa Wehle, Ritsaert Ten Cate, and Attanasio De Felice which Iconducted, the latter two with John Howell, during the spring of 1982. - Bonnie Marranca 23 Philippa Wehle Philippa Wehle recently published a book on Jean Vilar in France. How long have you worked at the press and public relations office of the Avignon Festival? Nine years. Over that period, how has the relationship of American performers to French festivals evolved, especially in more recent times with the change in leadership at Avignon? Prior to 1974, when I started working there, there was no international flavor to the festival. From 1974 on it grew gradually with the dance companies of Merce Cunningham and Alwin Nikolais. But 1976 was the big year of opening up to American companies. It was the year of Einstein on the Beach, of Merce Cunningham's Events. Two years later there was Twyla Tharp, and now last year and this year, under the new director Bernard Faivre d'Arcier there are many more American companies than under the former director, although it started with him. Bernard is also bringing in other countries, so the reference is not specifically American. I hear there were some negative feelings exposed, and charges of "American imperialism," at the end of last year in France. The French seemd tired of supporting American work in France. Is that true? Jack Lang, who has been Minister of Culture since May 1981-incidentally, in his student days he founded the Nancy Festival-made certain pronouncements that worry American groups and even American festivals that wish to get started in France. So the question is in the air whether the new French cultural policy is protectionist, nationalistic, or anti-American. But you have to look at exactly what Lang said. His "Deauville Declaration" of September 1981 had to do with the Deauville Film Festival, an American film festival, which is in its seventh year. Lang refused to go there or to honor it in any way. His declaration was basically anti-American, but antiAmerican film because of the gigantic influence the American film industry 24 has in France. Something like 86 percent of all foreign films on French television are American-a lot are Westerns, soap operas, sit-coms. What Lang has done is to set up a quota system to assure that there won't be so much American work on French television. This started a debate, the debate of Jennevilliers that took place at the Festival d'Automne [October 1981] when Richard Foreman was there with his new piece, Cafe'Amerique, and when David Warrilow was doing the Mabou Mines piece The Lost Ones. There was a...

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