The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-20
MISS ROBSON'S CAREER

| X OrreSt Arden In tne CnlcagO EAdHllhel.
 T did not want the stage in my child
 hood days" said Miss Robson to the in
 teryiewer Possibly it Was the inhus ice
 of the sisters with when 1 lived, but my
 dreams were all of something else.
 My mother brought me to the United
 States when I was a wee bit of a child,
 and as she was on the stage-Mrs Madge | Carr Cooke-she placed me in a convent on Staten Island. There, with the sisters, I studied painting and I thought my ca
 reer was to be one with palette and brush 1 if I ever had one. But after all, the
 blood of family of actresses was in my
 veins, and I suppose it was foreordained
 that the stage should be my metier. My
 mother was playing with the Frawley Stock company in San Francisco and when I was 15 years old She wrote to me saying that MT. Frawley had need of a
 young girl to play small parts and had offered to give me the position.
 My mother and 1 had been parted for
 long time, and l was very anxious to
 rejoln her, but am afraid my reply to
 
 But another letter came pointing out that
 this was the only way we could be to- gether, and at last I went-to play Mar
 jorie Deane in Men and Women "The next day had my first rehearsal | and although I was prepared to dislike the whole thing, inasmuch as it had cost
 me my cherished career as a painter, l was surprised to find that 1 liked 1t. "The night before we opened, the Chi
 nese cook who had been introducing my
 unaccustomed palate to the mysteries Of California cooking where we lived, came to our rooms with slant but wholesome | grin and presented me with rag doll of l heather manufacture, which he assured me would bring me good luck on the aus | picious occasion of the opening and eve.' ] afterward while I kept it.
 T have never parted with that doll. It | is in my dressing room wherever l go and whether or not the charm of the talisman l has worked, I have surely been blessed with good luck.
 'After several seasons with the Fraw- l ley Stock company, going from city to | city with that organization, I had acquired most valuable experience, and I joined | the Davidson Stock company in Milwau- | kee and afterward played with my mother at Ettichs garden in Denver in reper- tolre company.
 Then came my first chance to do some | thing worth while. Kirk La Shelle was organizing a company to produce 'Ari-
 zona,' and he wanted a young girl to play Bonita. He had never seen me nor heard of me, but my name was suggested by a manager of his acquaintance who had seen me in several parts, and the result was that MT. La Shelle sent for me and undertook the role.
 q played Bonita In Chicago and other western cities and then in New York, and that led to other things-delightfui things for the most part I was selected to play Constance in Browning's Tn a Balcony with Otis Skinner and Mrs. Le Moyne, and after that came 'Unleavened Bread, in which I played a light frivo- lous character quite unlike anything else I had undertaken, and a season with Kyrle Bellew in A Gentleman of France, and my first attempt at Shakespeare Juliet to his Romeo"
 She paused moment, as though recon structihg in her mind the events of those days which are really close at hand-her whole theatrical experience barely covers decade-and I interrupted her with; And then Merely Mary Ann?' " And then Merely Mary Ann,'" " she re- peated, "and it seems now as though I shall never get away from It. Every time decide have dropped it forever I am | dragged back to it and 1t is thrust in | front of me for another revival" 'I am sure voice the unanimous hope
 of those who have seen you play Mary and play 1t often."
 "It is the mechanical part of 1t that l | object to-" explained Miss Robson, "the | daily repetition of lines and emotions really causes at psychological rebellion l against the other self. It is my opinion 1 that an actress should not play one part l too long, for 1t will dull her perception l and blunt her art. It becomes parrot like | in time and when that time arrives an- other part is due for study and presen- | tation.
 l "It was while I was playing Constance | that first came to realize the truth that | there can be no art where there is no
 feeling; that the mere recital of lines,
 however perfect that recital may be, does | not constitute acting and that acting is | precisely what the word implies; the pre- | sentiment of a set of conditions in truth | ful manner.
 | One cannot portray grief unless one | feels grieved; one cannot display happi- ness unless one feels happy. It is in | effect the living for the brief stage mo- ment of the character one has assumed