STAGE DIRECTIONS & TERMINOLOGY WORTH KNOWING

Stage directions are written in italics – and in (parentheses) when they appear next to dialogue. Dialogue is written in plain text.

‘The man deals a deck of cards’ or ‘Katy enters the room’ are examples of stage directions. They describe the movements of the characters in the scene. Furthermore, setting description such as ‘the morning sunlight fills the room’ is also an example of stage direction.

Stage directions are a tool for guiding the reader along with what is happening physically on the stage when the dialogue does not indicate it. Do not write stage directions about what is going on in a character’s head over an extended, dialogue-free sequence.

noun. an instruction written into the script of a play, indicating stage actions, movements of performers, or production requirements.

1. Stage right. The part of the stage to the right of centre stage (From the actors perspective whilst facing out to the audience)
2. Stage Left.
3. Centre Stage.
4. UpStage.
5. Downstage.
6. Upstage Left.
7. Upstage Right.
8. Downstage Left.

Stage directions serve many functions, but their primary purpose is to guide actors’ movements on the stage, called blocking. Stage directions also can be used to tell an actor how to shape his or her performance.

The most common stage directions just tell the actors where to go on the stage. If you’re standing on the stage, looking at the audience, stage left would be to your left and stage right would be to your right. Going towards the audience is downstage, and walking away from the audience is upstage.

Stage directions can also be critical in dictating the intended tempo and rhythm of the piece. Whether they establish a production’s overall tone or elucidate particular actions of characters, stage directions help tell the complete story that is in the playwright’s mind.

Stage directions include center stage, stage right, stage left, upstage, and downstage. These guide the actors to one of the nine sections of the stage named after the center and four directions. Corners are referred to as up right, down right, up left, and down left.

Stage right is the right side of the stage for an actor who is standing facing the audience.

As the performer looks out to the audience, the area on their right-hand side is called stage right and the area on the left is called stage left.

The most powerful position in any room is front and center. If you stand toward the front of the performance area, and at a point midway between the farthest audience member on each end (the center), you appear the most powerful to the audience.

Back corners (upstage left or upstage right) These are the weakest positions on the stage, but they’re very interesting. You’ve pulled away from the audience and off to the side, almost as if you’re huddling in a corner.

UP LEFT: (G) The back left section of the stage, when facing the audience. Generally considered the ‘weakest’ position on stage as it is the last place the audience is likely to look. DOWN RIGHT: (H) The front right of the stage, when facing the audience.

This is the left-hand corner furthest away from the audience. This is the weakest point on the stage.

You definitely want to sit facing the stage left, to the performer’s right bc of most comics are left-brained, right dominant which you can be sure will be cheated toward while performing. Of course, top performers are going to address the audience in an intimate manner making you feel like they’re talking to you.

Downstage

: on or onto a stage : on a part of the stage visible to the audience.

In theatre and performing arts, the stage (sometimes referred to as the deck in stagecraft) is a designated space for the performance of productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point (the screen in cinema theaters) for the audience.

The definition of a stage is a platform or an area of raised floor. An example of a stage is what dancers dance on during a professional performance.

As nouns the difference between process and stage is that process is a series of events to produce a result, especially as contrasted to product while stage is a phase.

1) Period – A length or portion of time. 2) Stage – A point, period, or step in a process or development. 3) Phase – A distinct period or stage in a process of change or forming part of something’s development.

The difference between Level and Stage. When used as nouns, level means a tool for finding whether a surface is level, or for creating a horizontal or vertical line of reference, whereas stage means a phase.

SYNONYMS. phase, period, juncture, step, point, time, moment, instant, division, level.

What is the opposite of stage?

In this page you can discover 16 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for milestone, like: achievement, breakthrough, event, anniversary, discovery, sign, landmark, milepost, step, plateau and pillar.

What is another word for early?

What is another word for early morning?

“early on in her career” Antonyms: later(a), old, late, present(a), after-hours, future, New, ripe, latish, middle, mid(a), advanced, Modern, advanced(a), past, posthumous, intervening, tardive, tardily, belatedly. Synonyms: betimes, early on, too soon, ahead of time.

Antonym of Early