![]() ![]() They are always given from the actors perspective-upstage being towards the back of the auditorium and downstage towards the audience. These are actual terms used in the theatre to describe the various positions on the stage. You may have heard of the idea of “stage left” or “centre stage”. By learning the different types of stage directions, you’ll get a better sense of what the author was trying to convey in writing them down, and how they may help you in your performance. Sometimes, they’ll be of more use to the director, design team or the dramaturg. One thing to keep in mind is that while you’ll likely read every word written down in the script, not all stage directions may be relevant to you directly. Other times, it’s more descriptive of the world of the play, allowing you to conduct analysis as to how you might bring words off the page and into life. Sometimes, it’s purely for the ease of blocking a scene-working out where the actors stand and how they’ll move around the space. Types of Stage Directionsĭifferent types of stage directions will give you different types of information. ![]() Tennessee Williams, on the other hand, was incredibly descriptive, outrageously prescriptive and wrote genuine essay-length stage directions! Each writer has their own style, and it is your job as the actor to know what these instructions mean and how to make them work for you on stage. Shakespeare was famously very light on the stage directions, his only credited one is ‘Exit stage left, pursued by a bear’! This is because he was acting in or directing his own pieces and didn’t need to write down the stage directions. They also give you an insight into the playwright and how they approach their work. Stage directions give you vital information for the action and relationships between people, things and places inside a text. It is the stage directions that tell you what a character looks like, where they travel in the space and what the space looks and sounds like. Stage directions are instructions in a play for technical aspects of the production, such as lighting, sound, costume, scenery or props and, most importantly, the movement of actors onstage. What are these italicised commands? And how can you, as an aspiring actor, make sense of them? Separate the wheat from the chaff? The Tenessee Williams from Eugene Ionesco? The answers are contained below, so read on to uncover the mysteries and intricacies of stage directions in theatrical productions! Stage directions are the sections of your screenplay that are written around your dialogue and assist to define the action, scene, and characters.You open a play to page one, and the first thing that comes tearing at you is a whole swathe of italics, a writer ranting at you about the lighting in Brooklyn in the summer of ’73, in-depth descriptions of a library or simply “They cross the Andes”: the indomitable OG of wild stage directions from Peter Shaffer’s 1964 play The Royal Hunt of the Sun. Even if you don't want the audience to see something, such as a kiss, a stage direction can describe it as simply as "they kiss." What is an illustration of a stage direction? Stage instructions include things like "the man deals a deck of cards" or "Katy enters the room." They explain the characters' motions in the scenario. The more detailed and descriptive you are with your stage directions, the better your script will read. Sometimes screenwriters may put in many details that aren't necessary. For example, someone walking down a street would not need to be described as walking, they would just walk. It's up to you how much detail you want to include, but try not to go too far with them because that will make your script harder to follow. ![]() There are two types of stage directions: physical and verbal. Physical stage directions tell the reader what to look for when reading the scene. For example, "he punches her in the face" or "she throws a punch at him." These directions help the reader visualize the scene being played out before them. Verbal stage directions tell the reader how to pronounce certain words or phrases. Why is it important to pay attention to the stage directions? These directions are used to help the reader understand the conversation between the characters without seeing their faces. Stage instructions are scripted communications from the author to the creative team that are not addressed to the public. When characters join the stage and to whom they are speaking, stage directions might be employed. ![]() Action and movement can be described using stage directions. The visual presentation might be detailed in stage instructions. ![]()
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