The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-10-29
SIR JOHNSTON FORREST OBERTSON RETAINS
 THE BUOYANCY "O' THE BELIEVING YEARS"
 AND TALKS CTIARMINGLY OF HIS FJTUR]
Fly DOLLY DALRYMPLE


 so tenderly by the sculpturings of time that the finest expression of his life's ex-
 perience is in his face; the joy. the hap
 piness. the buoyancy 70 the believing years is with him
 Tall, erect. slender. he stands very
 straight and looks you square in the eye when he is talking to you, his coulrtliness and his elegance suggesting that he might
 have been reared among the most gallant French courts; his finished Reclamation, his splendid art, his exquisite touch of
 poesy, and his old classic school traditions contributing to his tremendously fascinat- ing personality, personality that has in- fused itself into all the many roles he has essayed. from the simplest to the
 most complex of shakespeare's heroes. A Royal acadamician, a famous artist, contemporary with Sir Johnston 40 years ago when they were fellow pupils. before the great English actor abandoned paint ing n profession because he had a healthy appetite for bread and butter, once said of him:
 He was the most beautiful creature I ever saw in my life!
 IL is easy to believe this of the man whom others notably discriminating have said: He was born to play Hamlet for this youthful beauty may still be traced in the lines of this great artists face, to which a strenuous period devoted to dramatic art has only added a touch of association and austerity.
 And never was q face better index of cha aracter.
 When I had the pleasure of meeting Sir Johnston here three years ago was greatly impressed with the idea when he was playing "The Passing of the Third
 Floor Back" for he seemed all uncon- sciously to carry with him into his pri-
 vate :ise something of the beautiful at mosphere that he creates as "rhe Strang- er in that wonderful play
 It Is unnecessary for me with my hum ble pen to dwell upon the admirable quail ities of Sir Johnston Forbes Robertson art. for the general verdict the world over Is that to natures generous en- dowment of a graceful and distinguished appearance, of a beautiful voice and rare intelligence he has added all that can be obtained by study. observation train ing and hard work, and steadfast devo- tion to the highest ideals of his calling. AS he chatted with me yesterday his in- teresting mannerisms of speech and his
 
 themselves very apparent for whatever subject appeals to Sir Johnston he at- tacks with fire and enthusiasm. and he knows whereof he speaks. I don't think he has ever played Don Quixote and I very foolishly neglected to ask him if he'd like to, but had he turned from painting to politics instead of the
 drama. that. am sure, is the role which his temperament would have led him to assume, for this very perfect knight | Is an ardent social reformer. keenly alive 1 to the problems of the day and as eager to discuss them as he is to discuss the | drama.
 l He Is a strong advocate of modernism; | he believes in progressiveness along every | line; he will not declare that all things | in the old days were the best: he will l not say that the modern actor is defi- | cient altogether; and when l drew his at- l tention to the prevailing pessimisms Tn regard to the stage in America, and asked him how the theatrical situation | looked from the viewpoint of a man who | had first faced an American audience as l a member of Mary Anderson's company, | he said:
 l I regard 1t as incomparably better than
 in the old days; any one who can look | back as l can over period of AZ years I and see the old-style theatres the old style scenery, the old-style actors, with a few brilliant exceptions like Edwin | Booth, McCready, Joseph Jefferson and | Clara Morris, easily discerns the differ
 ence Take even the minor parts In | play today-they are better played than ] formerly. by more capable actors. It | is in the very nature of things this i'm provement, for as the country has grown | so the people have grown and developed. l You do not agree, then" I suggested, 1 with the view that the public taste has
 declined within the past decade?' l ob- 1 served.
 By no means,'' said Sir Johnston en- | thusia stically "There has been a constant increase in the support given to good ] productions and serious drama, and 1 large part of this has come through the ] development of better taste among those 1 who were formerly content to see indif- l ferent performances of indifferent plays | Your dramatic literature and the es- ! tablishnent of departments of dramatic i art in your universities, something. by l the way, which we do not have in Eng i land" he continued, 'opened new field esta abished. I believe, first by Professor
 Baker of Harvard have made possible the way not only for the higher appreciation of the best plays, but for the practical training of the actor and the develop ment of more discriminating taste."
 Would you say a word concerning America as field for the dramatist?" I suggested
 SIT JOnnSIOn 1Olueu HIS aTIHS QuloJy
 and assumed & deep, thoughtful atti- tude and then said with his radiant smile. humorous, reminiscent pro- phetic:
 II "Bernard Shaw has said in print and in public that he chose the platform for the expression of ideas that had a Il definite object In view thus regarding the stage as the best medium to ex- ploit new ideas-new view points, new doctrines. In America you have a batch of splendid dramatists-many that l could mention--men who have grasped the chance that is presented in your ! country Here you have all the motives from which the drama has sprung-the T worid--old motives of hate love, hate,
 ambition. rivalry. heroism, degredation, Il upon d wider stage and in more com plex action than ever fed the imagina- ton of the older dramatists. You must
 remember that there was time when :, England had no Shakespeare, France no Moliere, America is full of oppor- tunity for the actor and the dramatist."
 What in your opinion, Is the most lstriking change which has taken place in the world Of dramatic art during your experience?' l asked.
 "Without doubt the greatest change -I is that which has occurred in the char acter of the plays which win populari-