The idea of fling has always captivated earthbound humans. When mortals invented ghosts and demons, the supernaturals came equipped with the power of flight. And humans, being envious, wished that they, too, could float free, soar like a bird or stand calmly on nothing. So from the beginning, when the legends of gods and the stories of man were told in theatre, flying has often been part of the action. The theatrical effect of a human flying is a scenic wonder. It began in religious plays, continued in church celebrations, and has had a place in a host of theatrical forms--opera, the fairly play, vaudeville, melodrama, pantomime and spectacle. The apparatus for staging flight has taken its place among a host of the stage machines intended to illustrate a plays story. Stage Flying surveys the long history of when and how stage mechanics have simulated flying. A brilliant history by John McKinven.