6o
-technical description of him, "was to.be well-vejsecj in light
^Kter^ture, as narrative, plays and.poetry; he should be familiar
with various people, experienced in dramatic details .^nd
• conversant with different mechanical art§." The prayer is -usually often followed by some account of the author of the piece, in which most of the authors " give, a long description
•of their genealogies and of their qwn -attainments, while it is a characteristic of Kalidasa's writings that they all begin with a charmingly modest introduction, marked by great diffidence;" and in some places, the mention of the author is
fiittle more than the particularisatign of his name. The notice of the author is in general followed by a complimentary
^appeal to the, favour of the audience^ aj$d the manager
- occasionally gives a dramatic representation of himself and his concerns in a dialogue between himself and one of his pany, either an actor or an actress, who is termed the par^ika or associate. The conclusion of this prelude, termed Tthe Prastavana, prepares the audience .for the entrance of one -of the dramatic personages, who is adroitly introduced by some -abrupt exclamation of the manager, either by simply naming
him as in the Sakuntala and Mdlavikagnimitra, or by uttering : something he is supposed to overhear, and to which he ^advances to reply, as in the Mritchakati and Mudr "The play being thus opened, is carried forward in scenes acts, each scene being marked by the entrance of one char^q-ter, and the exit of another ; for in general the stage j# never left empty m the course of the act, nor dqea total change of place often occur. Contrivances have been resorted to, to fill up the seeming chasm which such an ipterruption as a total •change of scene requir.es, an,d tto aypid such solecism which the •entrance of a character, whose approach is unannounced, J£ considered to be.