"Most of the business performed on the stage, too, is illusion. The art of creating a play is the art of creating illusion, and acting is the ability to convey the illusion of emotion. Any actor who believes he can improve his performance by carrying on stage the actual ashes of his grandmother is simply daffy."

Johnston defends the repertory theatre vigorously. "The repertory side of the theatre is the most interesting side, because it is the only place where the actor can play a great many roles and where the author can see his plays tried out without their having to be rewritten."

"The constant repetition in the repertory theatre makes for great plays, which are not constantly criticized as they are in Boston, Philadelphia and Broadway; and it is great pity there are not more such theatres."

As to how one becomes a playwright, Johnston said, "The only way to get your play read if you're a woman is to become secretary to the boss or prop girl at the theatre--in order to get to know the people who will eventually make decisions on scripts. On Friday say, 'I'll fix that for you over the weekend,' then come back with it done on Monday. The Big Boss thinks you're clever and you have a foot-hold on the ladder."

In fact, Johnston feels that one of the worst aspects of the contemporary theatre is the mania for plays "made to order" with a deadline rather than written freely for their creative brilliance and original dialogue.

'It's much easier for a woman to become a playwright than a man, because she has ways of working inside the theatre that men don't have. Men have only two ways of getting inside the theatre: one, by starting amateur of semi-professional groups of their own; and two, by having their plays read by agents in foreign countries.

"Because far hills always seem greener, it's much easier for American playwrights to get their plays produced in England than here; and conversely, for British playwrights to have their plays produced in the United States. By providing fresh material, foreign plays help independent repertory groups ot continue," Johnston ended hopefully.

Johnston was introduced by William Van Lennep, Curator of the Theatre Collection in the College Library