Outlook in respect of English performers (8)
I believe the answer is:
forecast
'outlook' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'in respect of english performers' is the wordplay.
'in respect of' becomes 'for' ('for' can mean in respect of or in relation to).
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'performers' becomes 'cast' (I've seen this before).
'for'+'e'+'cast'='FORECAST'
(Other definitions for forecast that I've seen before include "Meteorological surmise perhaps" , "Expect" , "Fear Scot in prediction" , "Divine" , "Predict as with weather" .)