account is given of the author of the drama, a complimentary tribute
is paid to the critical acumen of the spectators, and such a reference
is made to past occurrences or present circumstances as may be
necessary for the elucidation of the plot. At the conclusion of the
prologue, the manager, by some abrupt exclamation, adroitly introduces
one of the dramatic personages, and the real performance commences.

The play, being thus opened, is carried forward in scenes and Acts;
each scene being marked by the entrance of one character and the exit
of another, as in the French drama. The _dramatis personæ_ were
divided into three classes--the inferior characters (nicha), who were
said to speak Prákrit in a monotonous accentless tone of voice
(anudáttoktyá); the middling (madhyama), and the superior (pradhána),
who were said to speak Sanskrit with accent, emphasis, and expression
(udáttoktyá). In general, the stage is never left vacant till the end
of an Act, nor does any change of locality take place until then. The
commencement of a new Act is often marked, like the commencement of
the piece, by an introductory monologue or dialogue spoken by one or
more of the _dramatis personæ_, and called Vishkambha or Prave[S']aka.
In this scene allusion is frequently made to events supposed to have
occurred in the interval of the Acts, and the audience is the better
prepared to take up the thread of the story, which is then skilfully
carried on to the concluding scene. The piece closes, as it began,
with a prayer for national plenty and prosperity, addressed to the
favourite deity, and spoken by one of the principal personages of the
drama.

Although, in the conduct of the plot, and the delineation of
character, Hindú dramatists show considerable skill, yet they do not
appear to have been remarkable for much fertility of invention. Love,