The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-06

that idea comes from the English cock ney idea when the comedian is being rid iculed for his antics. You know he says:
 "''E's one of the kind that cracks
 wheezes
 An laughs at it 'iself.'
 .'As a matter of fact, the playwright actor has many advantages. He takes care of the causes as well as the effects, which the actor or stage manager some times neglects An actor may be prae- tically infallble in his acting of role and in his stage management but the functions of a playwright alone safeguard a. play"
 And do you think that the American stage is lacking in playwrights now adays?" I asked
 II think we are ahead of those abroad replied MT. Mann. "Of course, we haven a great many, but the material is here E; right at our door, and there is no reason why within the next few years we shouldn't have some of the greatest plays that have ever been produced.'
 DO you think that we need a censor, as they have in England and other coun- tries?' I asked.
 '.The public Is the best censor" replied Mr. Mann AS for myself, I cannot speak advisedly about censored plays, be- cause I have never appeared in a play that needed a censor. I couldn't bring myself to play in any sort of a produc- ton that was prurent or off color in any way Frequently think there are situa- l ,,lo Ae for instance there are conditions in art that are often misinterpreted. Take, for instance, the great Dutch painters, like Van Ostade and Franz Hals. They have done the most remarkable, the most fla grant things in their paintings things that the uninitiated could never under stand and yet these same paintings are accepted among the worlds greatest st classics. Take that wonderful picture that hangs in the gallery at Antwerp. done by a follower of the great Rubens. It is entitled, The Kings Banquet It is one of the most licentious. dastardly things imaginable, and yet it is great work of art. So with plays. Many that are considered unfit are really misunder- stood"
 Tn your stage career. from a come dian's standpoint. have you had the same aspirations to do heavy tragedy like your contemporaries, MT. Nat Goodwin and MT. Eddie Foy, and the others who want to play Hamlet and Shylock?" I in- quired.
 T was the first comedian who ever signified the intention of doing that sort of thing" replied Mr. Mann. Those fel- Weber and Fields to appear as Shylock many years ago, but circumstances al- tered the case, and my appearance was deferred. And, by the way, really do not consider myself a comedian, but a character actor. For instance. there could be nothing more tragic and classic than the third act in The Man Who Stood Still,' when he leaves his home. Nor in the second act, when he discovers the truth about his daughter That is real tragedy and as far removed from the character of Pillersdorf in The Cheater' as east is from west
 'W1ll you and Miss Lipman ever star together again?" I asked.
 "The fondest wish of my life is to play The Merchant of Venice with Miss Lip man as Portia and myself as Shylock. l want above everything in this world to do that, and although have play of my own in construction for next season in which shall star. it may be possible that toward the close of the season Miss Lipman and I may do the The Merchant