As part of the second phase of a two-phase study of the condition and needs of the live professional theatre in America since the mid-1960's, this volume provides four round table discussions involving 22 theatre persons from around the country who were drawn together to share their perceptions of the needs of professional theatre. The first discussion concerns what the participants perceived to be the present role of professional theatre in American society today--what it is, not what it should be. The second discussion covers what the participants thought the role of professional theatre in America should be. This is followed by a discussion of what needs to be implemented in order to attain what should be. The fourth discussion turns to perceptions of where funding might or should come from in order to implement the perceived needs. In the final discussion, each participant was asked, based on the previous discussions, to stress what he or she perceived to be the most important needs of and for theatre in the immediate future. It is emphasized throughout all the discussions that every effort was made to identify particular needs of the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors of the professional theatre and to identify where needs overlap or are actually or potentially cooperative in nature. (HOD)