How to Use Stage Directions When Quoting Dialogue
Playwrights include stage directions as instructions for actors and directors. They are the words inside the parentheses, and typically come before a character's dialogue, such as (Joe exits, shaking his head) to inform the cast that the character of Joe is leaving the stage area. The Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill expected actors to stick to his stage directions as they would the dialogue. Stage directions also tell actors where to move as they say their lines. In a few easy steps, this article will explain how to use stage directions when quoting dialogue.
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Instructions
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How to use stage directions when quoting dialogue
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Playwright Eugene O'Neill considered his stage directions as important as his dialogue. Apply pieces of masking tape to certain sections of the stage to correctly mark Center Stage (C), Stage Right (R), Stage Left (L), Down Center (DC), Down Right (DR), Down Left (DL), Up Center (UP), Up Right (UR), and Up Left (UL). Use the traditional abbreviations included in the parentheses. Stage directions always follow the actor's point of view. Stage Right is the actor's right. Stage Left is the actor's left. Down Stage (D) is the closest point near the audience.
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Shakespeare's plays included stage directions that sometimes need modern translation. Stick to the script. Study the playwright's stage directions, both the "directional" ones, such as "She enters stage right," and the "directive" ones, such as this one from O'Neill's "The Emperor Jones": "the expression on his face is fixed and stony, his eyes have an obsessed glare, he moves with a strange deliberation like a sleepwalker or one in a trance."
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Stage directions always follow the actor's perspective. Stage Right is to the actor's right. Rehearse with a director, who can follow the script as you quote the dialogue and coach you if you make a mistake. Quote the dialogue while following the stage directions. Practice quoting the dialogue while moving around on stage, whether you are entering, sitting or jumping up from a chair.
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Tips & Warnings
Study the script first. Mark the physical stage directions - Stage Right, Stage Left, Down Stage - with masking tape.
References
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