The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-01-10

TT seems to me that in looking over my
 brief but eventful newspaper career have never interviewed anybody just like Dr. S H. Clark of the Chicago university. The thought of high brow professor l must admit filled me with considerable trepidation; successful professors and men of letters have a cer- tain kinship with art combined with a near acquaintance with commercialism, that makes them sometimes especially in accessible and awe-stirring.
 pr. Clark, reader. author, professor, was, l found after a very few minutes conversation with him, a long way below that pinnacle of inaccessibilty; he is suc- |cessful; his work is known throughout the land; so art and commercialism must nave claimed him as their own yet he stood on the same earth that l did and talked with me in friendly, nay, human fashion yesterday
 Some great men have way of making the rest of their world sort of grovel. but some are of kindlier mould and succeed admirably in making their lesser fellow men feel that they, too, may climb and learn to breathe the air of an Olympus such great man is Dr. Clark; big of body, big of heart, big of mind, big in every sense of the word, and then, too when I tell you that he admitted some things about himself that I accused him of he put up some evidence that was rather dama ging to inaccessibility; he ad- mitted for instance that he didn't know anything about the progress of the Drama league in the south, because it had been many years since he had been south. He admitted that his son was the real dra- matic author of his family; he admitted that he had heart, and he admitted a lot of other things, too, all of which made him very accessible to me and I was very pleased.
 Mrs. Best told you, perhaps, when she was here all about the Drama league work in America,'' pr, Clark said in an- swer to my question as the progress of this big organization My mission with the Drama league is to inspire the read ing of the drama; in Atlanta I held course of readings recently and I was encouraged because at the last readings there were more people than at the first; that's always a good sign, you know. To my mind what the Drama League Of America stands for, and what it's greatest
 
 that has come to people all over the coun- try to read plays; dramatists are made; better audiences greet the drama"
 There are some who are diametricaly opposed to this opinion" Dr. Clark con- tinued. confronting the statement with the theory that in the days of the old Greek drama. people did not read, neither did they study the plays indeed, this is even suggested as the condition that ex- isted in the time of Shakespeare and Mo Here: but that just shows how little peo- pie who make such statements know. Tn the first place, the Greek drama was pre- sented in small playhouses; when the great plays were put on, the people came from all over the country to witness the play it was sort of a theatrical tourna- ment: they did study: they did know the plays; the Greek drama was part of and parcel of the people'e education. They the drama and by studying the drama an audience is more capable Of it--of enjoying it. Some one this theory by saying Oh, but we go to the theatre to be enter tained True, but which part of us do we go to entertain our heels or our heads? A knowledge of the drama gives us better plays with better players; nothing is so disagreeab1e to the lover of the drama as to see a familiar play perverted; over stressed: the scenic effects overdone. Whats the user says the stage manager Birmingham don't know the difference. Which is quite true of Birmingham or any other city, The smaller cities produce no great dramatic critics, so how are the people to know about plays unless they read them and study them? The smaller