HOW TO WRITE STAGE DIRECTIONS FOR A PLAY: FORMAT AND TIPS!

Playwriting and screenwriting largely consist of spoken text between characters, monologues, narration, and song lyrics in the case of musical theatre.  The other part of a play – the non-spoken part- consists of stage directions.    The primary purpose of stage directions is to clarify the action of a play. They provide vital information for the actors, director, designer, and other creatives, telling them where they are, when it is, what they are doing, and how they do it.   Stage directions may include the non-spoken action of the play, indicate lighting, and sound cues, and describe the scenic elements, properties, music cues, and everything else necessary to the staging and execution of a great play.  The following tips will help you avoid pitfalls and to bring your production to life.   Break-a-leg! 

Tip 1: Use the proper format -- how the professionals present their work. 

Use italics to indicate stage directions.  Indent your stage directions one tab.  Stage directions are not written in paragraph form. You may use abbreviations and don't need to go into exhaustive detail.  Utilize short, easy to read directions that engage the reader.  Directions need to be clear -- don't describe them in a way that doesn't serve the actor. 

Be specific and concise in describing the setting of the play.   For example, information like “shabby motel, Texas, a sun-soaked, early morning” provides all the crucial information needed to tell the story and stimulate the design team's creative impulses.   Only tell the actors and the creatives what is necessary and avoid being overly descriptive.   Get to the point!  Click here to learn more about format!

Tip 2:  Place text written in parenthesis after characters names for indicating a stage character's mood or intention. 

It's not just what a character says, but how they say it that reveals character to the audience.   Crafting good quality stage directions also means that an actor is given instructions on how the playwright imagines the character behaves or speaks (though not, necessarily, facial expressions). 

Consider the following exchange between two characters and the author's suggested line delivery written in parentheses.   Each line of dialogue has been clarified by the stage directions. 

     Michael: (visibly shocked) I can't believe they bought it.

     Jennifer: (bitterly) I guess we'd better accept the verdict and move on. 

     Michael: (angrily) What do you care?  You have a chance to get all that dirty money no matter what happens.

     Jennifer (raising her nose in disgust) I should have walked away when you said hello.

Parenthetical text can clue actors in to understand the author’s intentions in a scene.   What is the character feeling?   How do they speak? When do they pause?   What additional character clues is the actor being given by the writer?   What elements of the story are being revealed through the subtext? Following stage directions is an important part of an actor's job.  

Tip 3: Make your play script dynamic -- show, don't tell! 

The important "show don’t tell rule" means that whenever possible, let the action on stage tell the story or reveal the character.   Instead of telling the audience that it is raining, have your character rush into the room shaking the water off their clothes.  Instead of having your character say they are anxious, have them pace the floor checking their watch.    Showing is immediate and entertaining.  Stage directions give the audience an invitation to participate in the story.  More here on Show Don't Tell

Tip 4: Write stage directions in the present tense.

The action of the play is happening right now, not in the past.  The present tense is a simple explanation of the immediate and dramatic.  Stage directions aren't written in the past tense because the events of the play are unfolding in real time.  A play script is a description of what the audience is experiencing right now.   What's more exciting: talking about an explosion, or seeing one?   

Tip 5: Learn the nine common stage directions and abbreviations that point to specific part of the stage. 

Most people have heard the terms, stage right or stage left, but there are many other ways of describing the movement of actors on the actual stage. Over the years, the theatre has developed a commonly understood vocabulary to indicate the literal position of an actor onstage.   These directions are seen from the perspective of the actor who is facing the audience.  Upstage refers to the position toward the back of the stage (old stages were angled so that upstage was literally higher than downstage), downstage is closest to the audience.  These positions include downstage (left, right and downstage center), upstage (left, right and center), and center (left, right and upstage center) and are abbreviated, e.g. UR, DR, UL, C, etc.

These directions, frequently used by stage managers in script notation, may also be used by writers wishing to indicate the position of an actor if it integral to the plot of the play.  

Tip 6: Use stage directions to describe technical aspects of the play or shooting script to the production team and running crew.   

What specific elements of the play need to be communicated to non-actors in order for the story to be told.   Stage directions include every desired effect and detail that are used in each particular scene, i.e., sound cues, light cues, set cues, music cues.   What specific elements of the play need to be communicated to non-actors in order for the story to be told?

If this is a shooting script, you don't necessarily need to include every desired camera angle, and every last close-up shot, you do need to add a short description of everything we see in order for the actors to understand the story (not to mention the audience).

Tip 7: Keep it short! 

Stage directions should not be written in large blocks of text; use short, punchy sentences that are easy to understand and that highlight aspects of the story that you want to emphasize.   

Tip 8: Don't forget the table of contents! 

Finally, a script is long!   Have mercy on the reader!  Give them a guide so that they can quickly find what they need to be an effective artist! In my own show, HOW RUDE: THE MUSICAL, there are so many musical numbers that the table of contents is referenced constantly throughout the rehearsal process -- it makes the day work!