Compare and Contrast Greek Theatre with Sanskrit Drama.

 Greek Theatre: Amphitheatres were used to stage plays in ancient Greece. Amphitheatres had a round stage three quarters of which were surrounded by the audience. They were very large and could accommodate up to 25,000 people. The stage used the real landscape surrounding the amphitheatre. Plays were performed in day light. The actors spoke in a loud, declamatory voice. They had masks and symbolical costumes and used large gestures. The chorus was an important part of Greek Theatre.

The audience included only of free men. Slaves and women were excluded from the audience. Ancient Greek drama had a more ritual, symbolic and didactic purpose since it was performed on special occasions such as religious ceremonies.

The Theatre in Epidaurus (Theatre in Stone): It is an open-air Greek theatre. The seats for the audience are made on the slope of a hill. It had a large dancing orchestra for the chorus. There are passageways or paradoi at the right side for entry and exit of the chorus and processions. The ruins of the stone scene building, the skene, are set on back. The skene could be the replica of a temple or a palace. During 5th century B.C., the skene was a two storey stone building. The upper storey or episkenion was usesd for the stage machinery. There was a colannade or proskenion on the front of the lower story. Most of the acting happened in front of this structure on a low platform. There were three doors in the low platform flanked by projecting wings as paraskenia. This theatre belongs to the Hellenistic period (4th century B.C.), but these architectural features were there in the theatre of Dionysus. Gradually it was further developed. The Skene was rectangular and divided into rooms. It had a series of pillars and painted wooden panels or pinakes in between. The stage was 8 to 10 feet deep and about a foot high. The colonnaded front wall of the second story with three doors served as the background. Pinakes might be placed between the columns of the upper colonnade. The actors and the chorus had less inter-mingling.

The Greek theatre saw changes under Roman influence. The stage became lower by a few feet but deeper. The front of the stage became a highly decorated even as it lost its colonnade. The orchestra was no longer a complete circle. The actors got training in dance, dialogue and pantomime.

CLASSICAL SANSKRIT THEATRE

The origin of classical Indian drama pre-dated around Gupta period. The literary compositions of this period were complicated and many-layered. The play was endowed with clashing philosophies of life and art. Asvaghosa’s fragment plays were the earliest extant works in this field. Drama transpired as an intricate form of public literature in Gupta period. The notable writings of the periods which were performed: Sudraka’s Mrcchakatika; a satiric romance, Visakhadutta’s Mudraraksaas; a political drama and Kalidasa’s dramatic romances.

The major source of evidence for Sanskrit theatre is Natyasastra, which was compiled during Gupta period and whose authorship is attributed to Bharata.

“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 a source 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 emotionalharmony in the microcosm of the audience by exploring the deeper relations that bind apparent conflicts of existences. The manifestation of these relations produces the intense aesthetic experience called rasa.”(Miller: 13- 14)

Rasa denotes an essential emotionalstate for aesthetic appreciation. They are eight in number: the erotic, the heroic, the comic, the marvelous, the horrible, the furious, the pathetic and the disgusting. Rasa is the dominant emotional theme of a work of art or the primary feeling that is evoked in the person that views, reads or hears such a work. Bhava (human emotions) are also source of Indian aesthetics. There are eight bhavas and entitled as sthayi bhava – rati/shringar (romance); hass (comic); shok (melancholy); krodh (angry); uthsaah (zeal); bhay (fear); jigyasa (anxiety) and vismay (surprise). Rather than these shaant (tranquility) is the ninth bhava. Anubhava is the outgoing display of the inward feelings through eyes, face and body movement’s etc., drama is the portrayal of bhavas of the three-fold universe. Thence it includes dharma, krida, Kama, artha, Sama, hasya, yuddh and nadha. Certain characteristics of Sanskrit drama:

1. It is composed of sacred material.

2. It is meant for an audience that is well-versed in the performance tradition.

3. It is performed by members of the highest rank in the caste system, i.e., priests.

4. It requires special knowledge and skill to execute.

5. A complete understanding of dance, music, recitation and ritual language is a must.

6. Training is a hereditary process descending directly from God and passed down from father to son.

7. It must be performed on consecrated ground.

8. It start with a summoning of Nandi indicates the essential part of the play and ends with a Bharatvakya.

9. No distinction between tragedy and comedy. The plays are full of rasa.

10. Variety of language spoken by the characters. The hero (nayak) and the main characters of the play spoke classical Sanskrit whereas female and minor characters spoke in different Prakrit dialects.

11. It serves a dual purpose–to educate as well as entertain.

Drama is the world of acting, dance, music, dramatic construction, architecture, costuming, make-up, props, the organization of companies, the audience, competitions, offers a mythological account of the origin of theatre. In doing so, it provides indications about the nature of actual theatrical practices. As miller writes: “Bharata analyses four components of acting:

Angika: (acting through the body, relating to gesture and movements.) 

acika: (acting through speech, relating to voice intonation, recitation and singing.)

Aharya: (acting through accessories such as make-up, costumes, jewellery and prop.)

Sattvika: (acting through signs of emotion, relating to the physical manifestation of emotional states such as tears….)

The function of gesture is to present lively pictures, to grant voice to the motions and emotions, so that they must not be mechanical but well-adorned and innate. “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 (abhinay) that can produce aesthetic experience (rasa). (Miller: 19) Kalidasa’s dramas is a complete package of eight necessary principles of conjectural existence – air, water, earth, fire ether, the sun, the moon and the ritual sacrifice describes the concept of ardhanarisvara–the male and the female; the puruas and prakriti; Shiv and Parvati.

Under the patronage of royal courts, performers belonged to professional companies that were directed by a stage manager (sutradhara), who may also have acted. This task was thought of as being analogous to that of a puppeteer–the literal meaning of “sutradhara” is “holder of the strings or threads”. The performers were trained rigorously in vocal and physical technique. There were no prohibitions against female performers; companies were all-male, all-female, and of mixed gender. Certain sentiments were considered inappropriate for men to enact, however, and were thought better suited to women. Some performers played character their own age, while others played those different to their own (whether younger or older).

Kalidasa’s (3rd-4th century CE) is easily the greatest poet and playwright in Sanskrit, and occupies the same position in Sanskrit literature that Shakespeare occupies in English literature. He deals primarily with famous Hindu legends and themes; three famous plays by Kalidasa’s are Vikramorvasiyam (Vikrama and Urvashi), Malavikagnimitram (Malavika and Agnimitra) and the play that he is most known for: Abhijñanasakuntalam (The Recognition of Shakuntala). Kalidasa’s also wrote two large epic poems, Raghuvams’a (“The Genealogy of Raghu”) and Kumarasambhava (“Birth of Kumara”), and two smaller epics, Ritusamhara (“Medley of Seasons”) and Meghaduta (The Cloud Messenger), another ‘perfect’ work. 

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