UNIT 4 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DRAMA

4.1 Introduction

4.4 Tragi-Comedy
4.5 History Plays
4.6 Problem Play
4.7 Realistic Drama
4.8 Poet~cDrania
4.9 Epic Theatre
4.10 Theatre of the Absurd
4.1 I Classical Sanskrit Theatre
4.12 Let Us Sum Up
4.13 Exercises
4.14 Suggested Readings

4.0 OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this unit is to discuss in detail the klnds of drama that we see
being performed or read. Plays are categorised and labelled as tragedy, comedy,
history, problem plays, poetic drama. epic drama, the theatre of the absurd, etc. The
present unit explains as to how these distinctions are made; what reasons behind
the specific labels are; and what time period (socially and politically) has been
responsible for their growth. The unit has a sub-division on Indian Classical Sanskrit
Theatre which discusses the Indian aesthetic theory. One would do well not to
ignore Sanskrit drama as it has been a landmark development in the growth of
theatre at the world level. This also initiates the growth of drama as part of new
literatures which is inclusive of Spanish, German, French, Indian dramatic writing,

4.1 INTRODUCTION
Different types of Drama have existed down the ages from Greek classical theatre
to the present times. We have already read about the origin and growth of drama in
our first unit. Let us answer a few questions about drama which helps us understand
the different kinds of drama entertaining, realistic, romantic, relations-based, theme-

4.2 TRAGEDY
Aristotle first defined tragedy in his Poetic's around 330 BC. He defined tragedy as
"the imitation of an action that is serious and also as having magnitude, complete in
itself," in the medium of poetic language and in the manner of dramatic rather than
of narrative presentation, i~ivolving"incidents arousing pity and fear wherewith to
accon~plishthe cathars~sof such emotion."
Drama: An Introduction Aristotle says that the tragic hero will evoke pity and fear if he is neither thoroughly
good nor thoroughly bad but a mixture of both but is certainly "better than we are in
the sense that he is of higher than ordinary moral worth. Such a man is exhibited as
suffering a change in fortune from happiness to misery because of his mistaken
choice of an action, to which-he is led by his hamartia, the tragic flaw or the error
of judgment or a moral weakness in character. The plot evokes tragic pity and fear.
In this way tragedy relieves the spectators of harmful emotion. The dramatist
depicts incidents which arouse pity and fear for the protagonist, bringing the plot to
a logical and foreseeable conclusion. This explains how an audience experiences
satisfaction even from an unhappy ending. In Shakespeare's King Lear, Lear's
madness and his death arouses pity and fear in the audience, thus catharsis in
spectators gives a satisfaction despite it being a tragic play. "In his tragedies
Shakespeare is indeed grappling with the whole world on a scale approximated only
by the profound tragedians of Greece. Tragedy in his work goes beyond individual
failure, Nations crumble, and ambition, lust and ingratitude sear the earth. Sensitive
souls shudder. They question the chimeras of man and fate, receiving dusty answers.
Love for them turns to mockery, common decency become a jest, they see blood
flowing like a torrent; conscience gnaws at the marrow of their being; self disgust
and a general disgust with mankind ravage many of them" (Gassner:234). Thus
Hamlet and Lear are partially authors of their own suffering because of their
conduct. Hamlet's sharp questioning of man and society emanates from the dramatic
shock of discovering the murder of his father and his mother's infidelity; but later
his procrastination are aberrations from sound policy. Man struggles against man.
Thus it is drama of individual will. Aristotle's definition excludes many plays which
are commonly thought of as tragedies. Not all tragic heroes suffer because of a
tragic error.
Contemporary critics suggest a cluster of overlapping perspectives which collectively
describe the tragic vision.
First, tragedy begins by asking the ultimate questions: why are we here? Does life
have meaning or purpose? Can life have meaning in the face of so much suffering
and evil in the world? Does death negate the significance of the protagonist's life
and the goals helshe was seeking? Tragedy offers no singular solution: people
suffer because of their own actions. At times the tragic hero appears to suffer
simply because helshe lives in a cruel and unjust universe. Though the causes of
suffering are diverse, yet the purpose of suffering appears almost universally
acknowledged: only through suffering does a person attain wisdom. According to
Francis Fergusson, the plays follow a tragic pattern of purpose, passion and
perception.
Second, tragedy pushes the individual to the outer limits of existence where one
must live or die by one's convictions. Facing the end of life, a person quickly
recognizes life's ultimate values. Tragedy depicts men and women who dissatisfied
with the hand destiny has dealt with them, challenge the rules of the game. Tragedy
does not depict man as a helpless puppet dancing to the strings of destiny, The
tragic vision does not assure man's ultimate downfall. Instead, it explores ways in
which free will exerts itself in the world. The determination to act rather then
submit often leads to disastrous results but at the same time it tests the basic
substance of humanity. This tremendous strength of will to scale the heights and
accomplish the impossible sets the hero apart from the ordinary humanity but
inspires us with a vision of human potential. Thus tragedy far from being a pessimistic
view of life, is ultimately optimistic about the value of human achievement and the
unconquerable strength of human spirit. To put into Eric Bentley's words. "Tragedy
cannot entail extreme pessimism, for that would be to lose faith in Man." The tragic
vision encompasses the paradox of human freedom, admitting the possibility of
great goodness and great evil.
26
ome of the kinds of tragedy are: Different Qpes of Drama
) Revenge tragedy or the tragedy of blood which derives from Seneca its
materials of murder, revenge, ghosts, mutilation and carnage. It was a dramatic
genre that flourished in the late Elizabethan and Jacobean period. Kyd's The
Spani~hTragedy (1586) established this popular form, later to be followed by
Marlowe's The .Jew of Malta (1592)' Webster's The Duchess of M a w
( 1 6 12) and Shakespeare's Hamlet (1602).
i) Domestic tragedy was written in prose and presented a protagonist from the
middle or lower social ranks who suffer a commonplace or domestic disaster.
This was popularized by eighteenth century writers. For example, George
Lillo's The London Merchant.
iii) Social tragedy revolved around an issue of general social or political
significance. These represent middle class or working class heroes and heroines.
Notable tragedies of nineteenth and twentieth centuries are Henrik Ibsen's A
Doll's House and, Ghosts, and Arthur Millers Death of a Salesmen (1949).
iv) Melodrama: originally applied to musical plays including opera. The protagonists
are flat types. Here drama relies on implausible events and sensational action.
Continuous action drives the plot through a series of adventures. It thrives on
thrills. ekcitement, suspense and rescues. The conflict is external and everything
is delineated as black or white. Melodrama appears to deal with serious
subjects, but its seriousness is only pretence. Most of the serious dramas never
reach the heights of tragedy and thus become melodramas. Adventure films
are examples of this.
v) Romantic tragedy: Romances which end unhappily or with the death of the
hero and heroine are categorised as romantic tragedies e.g. Shakespeare's
Romeo and Juliet.
vi) Heroic drama: Heroic dramas may not look deeply into the philosophical
questions of good, evil, man's relation to supernatural, etc. but they abide by
the rule of poetic justice and portray swash-bucking adventures. e.g. The
Count of Monte Cristo.

4.3 COMEDY
At the most fundamental level, comedy focuses on pleasure and amusement. The
spectators are made to feel confident that no great disaster will occur and usually
the action turns out to be happy for all.
Allardyce Nicoll describes three techniques of comedy which create a comic
detachment (i.e. we laugh at the hardships of comic characters because the author
sets them at a psychological distance): derision, incongruity and automatism.
Derision takes aim at human frailties such as stupidity, hypocrisy and arrogance,
knocking the victim off his self-built pedestal. The character too pretends more,
thus setti& himself up for the fall. With insults and sarcasm, comedy's sharp writ
seeks to pierce the over-inflated egos of pompous politicians, bragging generals and
haughty aristocrats. Derision creates distance by placing its subjects beneath us as
contemptible and foolish. Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a classic example of this.
Incongruity provokes laughter by means of ridiculous contrast in situation, character
or dialogue. The unexpected element takes us by surprise. Misplaced words or
statements are also a source of laughter. For instance, Shakespeare's A Midsummer
Night k Dream or Gogol's The Inspector General.
Automatism occurs when people are depicted as acting without thinking. Comic
characters often have annoying habits or mannerisms. They lose the ability to
interact naturally. For example, Chekhov's The Marriage Proposal. 27
Drama: An Introduction Comedies make use of several of the traditional roles. They tend to portray characters
as recognizable stereotypes. Comic characters remain on the other side of line
separating fiction from reality. This aesthetic distance allows us to laugh at their
troubles without feeling pity and fear of tragedy. The world of comedy is characterized
by absence of real pain. For all its criticism of human limitations, hypocrisy and
foolishness, comedy views human beings as survivors. In comedy we laugh at our
shortcomings and learn from our failures.
In his work on ethics, Aristotle describes two types of contrasting characters. The
braggart (alazon) pretends to be more than he is, while the ironist (eiron) seems to
be less than he is. Aristotle defined comedy as written about persons of minor
importance whom their faults rendered ridiculous. The pair of crafty schemer and
the parasite was one of the most popular plots. This can be witnessed in Jonson's
Volpone (1606) where Volpone and Mosca trick others out of money and wives
both. Similarly Horner in The Country Wi$e (1675).
Within the broad spectrum of comedy the following types are often distinguished:

i) Farce: It is a type of comedy designed to provoke the audience to hearty

laughter - 'belly laugh.' This employs highly exaggerated or caricatured type
of characters, puts them into improbable and ludicrous situations, and makes
free use of sexual mix-ups, broad verbal humour, and physical bustle and
horseplay. At times the sustained brilliance and wit of dialogue helps to achieve
the comic effect in a better way. Human beings are presented as helpless
victims of their bodily urges, hungry for food, drink and sex. Characters in
farce are usually single minded, seeking to satisfy their cravings with reckless
desperation. Little emphasis is on depth of characters. Thus comedy which
focuses on physical humour or "slapstick" is called farce. Plot complications,
mistaken identities and miscommunication make it effective. Facial expressions
and body gestures bring farce to life. Farce is effective in performance than as
literature. Comedians like Charlie Chaplin and Keaton became masters of
farce.
Commedia dell Arte was a form of comic drama developed around mid- ,
sixteenth century by guilds of professional Italian actors. Playing stock
characters, the actors largely improvised the dialogue around a given scenario.
Commedia performers relied on stereotypes and familiar situations to invent
dialogue and action. The plot is enlivened by the buffoonery of 'Punch' and
other clowns. Wandering Italian troupes played in all the large cities of
Renaissance Europe and influenced various writers of comedies.

ii) Comedy of Manners is the most prominent form of high comedy as it holds
the customs of aristocratic society up to ridicule. It uses verbal wit and sarcasm
to depict the charm and reveal the pretensions of its characters. It exhibits two
contrasting impulses: to celebrate and to criticize. The comic vision professes
both hope and discouragement about the human condition, looking for the best
but expecting the worst. It originated in the New Comedy of the Greek
Menander as distinguished from the Old Comedy ofAristophanes. Shakespeare's
Loves Labour Lost and Much Ado About Nothing are examples of comedy
of manners. The comedy of manners, as its name implies, concentrates upon
the depiction of men and women living in a social world ruled by convention.
Its manners are not simply the behaviour of humanity in general but the
affectations and cultured veneer of a highly developed and self-conscious
group. Intellectual refinement, epigrammatic wit and easy dalliance had been
made the prime qualities sought after by the gallants and their mistresses. At
the same time, it tends to tone down and to intellectualize ordinary emotions.
This form of comedy was given a high polish in Restoration Comedy (1660-
28 1700), and is much indebted to French writer Moliere (1622-73). It deals with
the relations and intrigues of men and women living in a sophisticated upper Different 'Qpes of Drama
class society and relies for comic effect on the wit and sparkle of the dialogue
often in the form of repartees. Each person tries to cap the remark of the
other, or to turn it to his or her our advantage William Congreve's The Way of
the World (1700) and William Wycherley's The Country Wife (1675) are
classic examples of mastery of wit.
iii) Sentimental comedy grew out of this comedy of manners. It represented the
lSh century middle class life and its reaction against what had come to be
considered the immorality of a situation and indecency of dialogue. Goldsmith's
She Stoops to Conquer, Sheridan's The Rivals and A School for Scandal
and Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest deleted the indecency, revived
the wit and gaiety of Restoration comedy.
iv) Cornedy of Humour was a type of comedy developed by Ben Jonson based
on the ancient physiological theory of the 'few humours' the primary fluids i.e.
blood, phlegm, choler (yellow bile) and melancholy (black bite) whose mixture
was held to determine both a person's physical condition and character type.
Thomas Shadwell had a flair and skill in depicting humorous types. This is also
called the 'satiric comedy' or the 'corrective comedy'. It tends to see the dark
side of humanity and uses laughter as a satiric weapon. Jonson's Volpone is
an example of this comedy which exposes the false premises on which people

v) Tendency comedy is another mode of the comic in which one is made to

laugh at a person not merely because he is ridiculous but because he is being
ridiculed; the laughter is derisive with contempt and malice.
vi) Festive comedies: They emphasized celebration; the victory symbolized the
process of renewal and regeneration which allows life to continue. Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night is a perfect example of love found, lost and regained and the
traditional wedding at the end of comedy represents the continuance of life
itself. This was also categorized as the Romantic comedy. As You Like It and
A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare are examples of romantic
comedy as they represent a love affair which goes topsy-turvy due to problems
or disguises but ends in a happy union.

4.4 TRAGI-COMEDY
Accord~ngto Horace Walpole, "Life is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to
those who feel". Not all plays fit into a single category; in fact most plays consist of
elements from two or more genres. It was a type of Elizabethan and Jacobean
drama which intermingled both the standard characters and subject matter and the
standard plots of tragedy and comedy. People were of high degree and low degree
and the plot was serious criticism with lowbrow farce and slapstick humour.
Fletcher's The Faithful Shepherdess (1 6 10)' Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice
and The Winter k Tale are popular tragicomic romances. It is thus defined as an
interpretation of emotional reaction where tragedy and comedy are both present yet
one does not merely follow upon the other but arises from it.
One of the first dramatists to explain tragicomedy as a uniquely modem world view,
Friedrich Duerrenmatt (1921-1990) felt that the 2 0 century
~ was an era lying in the
shadow of two wars, and the Holocaust, and could no longer support the spirit of
exaltation and therefore the true reflection of modem humanity is a paradox in
which the tragic is depicted as comic; thus man is like a circus clown with a sad
face, whose actions appear comical but the implication of ultimate meaninglessness
behind those action came closer to tragic despair.
Drama: An Introduction
4.5 HISTORY PLAYS
Chronicle plays were dramatic works based on the historical materials in the
English Chronicles by Raphael Holinshed and others. Chronicles were written
accounts in prose or verse, of national or worldwide events. These works achieved
high popularity in the sixteenth century. The early chronicle plays were a loosely-
knit series of historical events and depended for effect on stage battles. Public was
fascinated by these historical dramas. The dramatic presentation of historical events
such as Julius Caesal; Richard II , Edward I, Henry V are popular Elizabethan
historical plays and recent examples are Arthur Miller's The Crucible (1 953) and
Robert Bolts' A Man for All Seasons (1962). The concern with history committed
the playwright to deal with all sorts of situations, ambiguities and apparent
irrelevancies. The fusion of the outer (events) and inner (character) i.e. the close
interdependence of action and character brings the dramatic effect.

4.6 PROBLEM PLAY

Problem plays pertain to drama with a specific contemporary problem by making
the protagonist face it. It was a type of drama popularized by the Norwegian
playwright Henrik Ibsen. The dramatist manages to propose a solution to the problem
which is at odds with the prevailing opinion. From Shakespeare's Measure for
Measure and All b Well That Ends Well to lbsen's A DollS Houst*, Shaw's Mrs.
Warren b Profession are examples of problem plays as they explore problems like
morality of behaviour, capital punishment, dignity of women, capitalist society, racial
and ethnic issues, etc. Social issues are either incorporated into the plot or are
debated amongst characters, but may not necessarily search a solution and thus the
problem may remain unresolved. Such plays create awareness on social issues and
force the spectators to think.

4.7 REALISTIC DRAMA

Realistic and Naturalistic drama of 20" century has been discussed at length in the
last unit.

4.8 POETIC DRAMA

In poetic drama the dialogue is written in verse, which in English is usually the blank
verse. This was chiefly associated with the work of TS Eliot arid Christopher Fry.
Murder in the Cathedral, The Family Reunion , The Cocktail Party , are
popular plays of Eliot. He emphasized vigorous and bold use of all devices proper to
the form of verse drama, emphatic melody, alliterative values, arresting imagery.
The dialogue is so shaped that the audiences are ~ i o made
t conscious of the fact
that they are listening to verse at all. The drama floats on moving words and
musical melodies. The choruses were formal and fluid. Spanish writer Lorca made
effective use of poetic overtones. In his play The Home ofBernard Alba (1936),
Lorca created a nationalistic prose-poetry, combining realistic exposition with theatre
of local colours. Lyrics and ballads were dramatized in a unique and stylized way.
Dialogues became formal poetry. Blood Wedding (1933) and Yerma (1934) are
rare dramatic presentations of this kind.

4.9 EPIC THEATRE

The term epic theatre was first used in Germany in 1920s and became associated
with the name of Bertolt Brecht. It cuts across the traditional divisions. Epic story
telling is objective. The beginnings of epic theatre coincide with German experiments
30 in the use of the theatre as an instrument of political instruction. Brecht rejected the
onvention;il theatre for he said that it delighted the senses without impinging on the Different 'Qps of Drama
ind. In his essay 011Experimetztul Theatre (1939) Brecht asked: "How can the
eatres be entertaining and at the same time instructive?" He was looking for a
theatre that would help to change the world.
He set out the contrasts between dramatic theatre and epic theatre as follows:
epic
narrative
implicates the spectator in a stage in turns the spectator into an observer
a stage situation
wears tiown his capacity for action arouses his capacity for action
provides him with sensations forces him to take decisions
picture
spectator is involved in something he is made to face something
argument
instil~ctivefeeling preserved brought to the point of recognition
specta~oris in the thick of it spectator stands outside (observer)
the human being is taken for granted human being is the object of inquiry
he is ullalterable able to alter
eyes on course
one scene makes another each scene for itself
montage
linear development in curves
evolul ionary dete~minism jumps
man as a fixed point man as a process
thought determines being social being determines thought
reason
Dramatic theatre enacted plots, involved the audience and stimulated their emotions.
Epic theatre tells a story in a way that invited the audience to consider the events
involved and to make their assessmer~tof them. Adjustments had to be made in the
form of the play. If the dramatic play was a closed system of underdevelopment
scenes, but with a plot so structured that the audience was in suspense till the end
; then tlie epic play was a montage of independent incidents which showed a
process and it moved from scene to scene by curves and jumps which kept the
audience alert to judge what was right. Brecht sometimes compared his plays to
scietitific experiments and change for the better lay at the centre of thinking. Brecht
rejected the notion that human nature was fixed and that man's own thinking
governed his being. In epic theatre man's thinking is conditioned by his social
situation and will change if that changes. He is the agent of social change. Mother
Courage and her Children (194 1) is a good example of an epic play. By employing
a detached narrator and other devices to achieve alienation effects, Brecht aimed
to subvert the sympathy of the audience and the identification of the actor with his
role. He hoped to encourage his audience to criticize and oppose the social conditions.
The theatre of illusion had always carefully concealed machinery behind the curtain.
Brecht had a bare grey stage and had minimal scenery and properties. Bright white
light was used for every scene. The songs invite the actors to step out of their roles
and address themselves to the audience. Brecht always insisted on the texture of

Brecht's theory which rejected Aristotelian principles, regarded a play as a series of

loosely connected scenes, dispensed with dramatic cliinaxes and used songs to
comment on the action.
Drama: An Introduction
4.10 THEATRE OF THE ABSURD
It is a term applied to drama that reflects the attitudes that the universe is without
purpose and that human life is futile and meaningless. Under such circumstances,
man's existence becomes absurd. In both form and content, it portrays human
beings as isolated from others. There is no conventional plot, dialogue or character
motivation. This formlessness and apparent irrationality are an expression of the
absurd predicament of man, whose existence has no reason. Important playwrights
are Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter, ~ l b e and
e Adamov. Martin Esslin writes: "A terrn like
Theatre of the Absurd must be understood as a kind of intellectual shorthand for a
complex pattern of similarities in approach, method and convention of shared
philosophical and artistic premises whether conscious or subconscious, and of
inferences from a common store of transition." Sense of loss of meaning (due to
political and social upheavals in the first half century) must inevitably lead to a
questioning of the recognized instrument for communication of meaning - Language.
Conversation is absurd and nonsensical as the language reflects the preoccupation
of contemporary philosophy with the discovery of reality and it emphasizes the
basic absurdity of human condition. Thus it has much in common with the existential
philosophy of Heidegger, Sartre and Camus. The theatre of the Absurd attacks the
comfortable certainties of religious or political orthodoxy. "It does not provoke tears
of despair but the laughter of liberation" says Martin Esslin.

4.11 CLASSICAL SANSKRIT THEATRE

Kalidasa belongs to Sanskrit Classical Theatre. The sources of classical Indian
drama probably antedate the Gupta period in which most literary compositions are
complex, multi-layered works that display and play with conflicting philosopliies of
life and art. The earliest extant works are fragments of plays of Buddhist poet
Asvaghosa. It was during the Gupta period that drama emerged as a sophisticated
form of public literature. Sudraka's satiric romance Mrcchakatika (The Little Clay
Card, Visakhadatta's political drama Mudraraksaas (The Minister k Signet Rind
and Kalidasa's dramatic romances were performed. The Natyasastra was probably
compiled during the Gupta period.
"Bharata's dramatic theory recognizes the emotional and ethical instruction
afforded by the spectacle of theatre. Like Aristotle, Bharata stresses the
emotional satisfaction that spectators may enjoy through the action of drama.
Although their modes of ordinary experience are significantly different, Greek
tragedy and Indian heroic romance (nataka) were conceived and performed
as sources of pleasure and insight for the audience. Indian heroic romances
represent human emotions in a theatrical universe of symbolically charged
characters and events in order to lead the audience into a state of extraordinary
pleasure and insight. The goal of a Sanskrit drama is to re-establish emotional
harmony in the microcosm of the audience by exploring the deeper relations
that bind apparent conflicts of existence. The manifestation of these relations
produces the intense aesthetic experience called rasa. (Miller: 13 - 14).
Rasa is essentially the flavour that the poet / dramatist distils from a given emotional
situation for aesthetic appreciation. There are eight rasus : the erotic, the heroic,
the comic, the marvellous, the horrible, the furious, the pathetic and the disgusting.
Every drama has a dominant rasa. For Indian aesthetics human emotions (bhava)
also exist. There are eight (bhava) also known as sthayi bhava (permanent
emotions) - rati/shringar (romance); huas (comic); shok (nielancholy); krodh
(angry); uthsaah (zeal); bhay (fear); jigyasa (anxiety); and vismay (surprise). The
ninth sentiment is shaant (tranquillity). Anubhava is the outward manifestation s f
the internal feelings through the eyes, face, gestures, etc.
32
of the emotional states of the threefold universe and Different Types of Drama
includes concerns of duty (dharma); play fkrida); desire (kanzu), material
peace (sama) , mirth (husya), war (yuddh) and death (izadhu).
that the gods originated to offer ethical instructio~t
Drama was patronized by royalty and permanent troupes of
with major courts. Royal palaces contained a theatre with a
The world is created by enactment, gestures and verbal
delivery, costume, make up and emoting bhava and rusa.
4 s Miller writes:

f
harata analyses acting into four components:
Acting through the body (angika), relating to gestures and movements.
. Acting through speech (vacika), relating to voice intonation, recitation and
singing.
. Acting through accessories (aharya), such as makeup, costume, jewellery,
props.
. Acting through signs of emotion (suttvika), relating to the physical manifestation
of emotional states such as tears,,,,,.(Miller: 18).
Gestures function to make vivid pictures, to communicate motions and emotions and
therefore must not be mechanical but graceful and spontaneous. "In the Indian
theatre acting is considered a discipline (yoga) where the actor and acted became
one. Arduous training is essential to the perfect acting (abhinaya) that can produce
/aesthetic experience (rasa)". (Miller: 19).
Nature functions as a setting as well as a representative of creation and destruction
of life. The eight essential principles of empirical existence -air, water, earth, fire,
ether, the sun, the moon and the ritual sacrifice express Siva (ardhanarisvara) -
the male and the female; the purusa and prakriti; Siva and Parvati. These concepts
are the basic tenets of Kalidasa's drama.The Indian drama begins with an invocation
and a proiogue (prastavana). The invocation of the recital of Nandi suggests the
gist of the plot. The Prelude may begin with a brief allusion to the poets' literary
attainment, his genealogy etc; the Sutradhara (Chorus) suggests the subject, names
the character about to enter and pleases the audience with sweet songs descriptive
of some season. The prelude marks a transition to the action of drama itself. The
swift rhytlims give way to dialogue, poetry and action. This also sets the zones on
the stage that represent different realms of the dramatic universe. The whole
matter is well- determined and divided into Acts and Scenes. An act must not be
toolong and should be full of rasa. The play should end with a Benediction or
prayer (Bharatvakya). The language used by the hero and the higher character is
Classical Sanskrit, while female and other minor characters speak in the different
Prakrit dialects. The plot should be drawn from real life; the Hero must be of
ministerial rank or a Brahman; the Heroine may be a maiden of a noble family or a
courtesan, and the character to be represented should be celestial as well as
human. It is observed that the characteristic peculiarities of the Indian drama are
mainly three - 1) its peculiar structure, 2) the absence of the distinction between
comedy and tragedy and 3) the diversity of language spoken by the characters. The
Sanskrit verses are rich in imagery and metaphor and follow the aesthetic norms
whereas the Prakrit verses are lyrical, expressive and imaginative.
The hero in each play is a king and it is through the king that the natural, social and
divine worlds unite. The King's spiritual powers can be equated with his martial
strength and moral superiority. He is the royal sage. His responsibility is to guide
and protect those beneath him. The heroine of drama is the vehicle for transforming
erotic passion into aesthetic experience.
Drama: An Introduction Kalidasa's literary reputation is based on his six surviving works : Malavikagninzitra
(~Malavika and Agninlitrtr); Vikranforvasiya (Urvusi won by valour);
AbhijnanaLsakut~talum~S(rkuntuluand the Ring of Recollection); Meghdzltu
(The Cloud messenger); Raghuvanrsu (The Lineage of Raghu) and Kunzara
Sanzblznva (The Birth of Siva's "?on).Coherent language, poetic technique; style
and sentiment makes Kalidasa the acknowledged master poet of Sanskrit. The
heroines are endowed with physical fornis, language, dance movement and magical
relations to nature. The heroes are also connoisseurs of natural beauty and art. The
audience tends to forget the everyday world and enters the fantastic realm of
imagination. His plays are also known as the "Theatre of Memory" for tnelnory
is crucial to the production of romantic sentiment throughout Sanskrit literature.
Miller writes : "... memory has the power to break tlirougll the logic of everyday
experience - it makes visible what is invisible, obliterates distances, rekerses
chronologies, and fuses what is ordinarily separate" (Miller : 39 - 40).
David Gitomer describes the playhouse as follows:
...most attention is given to the medium rectangular variety ... .Ninety-six
feet in length, forty-eight in width, but divided so that equal halves were given
over to audience and performers, these halls could have acco~nmodatedno
more than 200 spectators sitting on a mat-covered floor with benches for the
distinguished and elderly on the sides. Wooden pillars supported the roof,
wliich was thatched. At least few of these pillars stood away from the walls
within the audience area. Each was associated with one of the four classes
(vurnas) . . .
The part of the house wliich was the domain of tlie perfonner was again
subdivided.... there was a wall between the backstage area and the stage,
with two doonvays cut near the centre for entrances and exits.. ...there were
sliding curtains over these doors ......between the doors were two large
drums; clustered around them were the other musicians of tlie ensemble,
which seems to have provided an almost continuous accompaniment to any
dance-drama ....the actual playing area may have been as small as twelve
feet square; another scheme works out ta a rectangular 24' x 12'. ...
Every aspect of the construction of the playhouses, fro111tlie laying of the
string to measure the foundation to the drawing of a mandala for the
installation and worship of gods in the building, was part of a great ritual,
undertaken at tlie proper astrological moment, which drew on traditional
modes of vedic sacrifice . . . (Miller : 63 - 65).

The stage becomes a fluid space in which divisions are established by dialogue and
movement, highlighted by lights and costumes and tlie audience transported through
earthly and cosmic spaces.
From the time of Kalidasa to tlie present times poetic drama or verse play is
popular on the Indian stage. Verse plays like Batalvi's Lunu or love legends of
Laila-Majnu, Scrssi-Punu and Heer-Rarqhu be long to a single cultural tradition
and seek to teach didactic and moral lessons. The epical rnodes of Eastern epic
have remained dependent on estabiished and elitist notions. With the passage of
time imaginative construction gave way to a new direction in literarj creation which
amounts to flouting of the tradition and searching for new meanings and
interpretations.

4.12 LET US SUM UP

After reading this unit we get to know that there are different kinds of plays such
as Tragedy, Comedy, Tragi Comedy, History plays, Problem plays, Realistic plays,