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Stage Directions and Stage Spaces

This document outlines the basic areas and terminology used for stage directions. It discusses the key areas of center stage, downstage, and upstage from the actor's point of view facing the audience. It also describes the main types of stages including proscenium, thrust, arena, and traverse stages and how they differ in terms of actor positioning and audience perspective.

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Breanna Monique Tao-on
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41 views26 pages

Stage Directions and Stage Spaces

This document outlines the basic areas and terminology used for stage directions. It discusses the key areas of center stage, downstage, and upstage from the actor's point of view facing the audience. It also describes the main types of stages including proscenium, thrust, arena, and traverse stages and how they differ in terms of actor positioning and audience perspective.

Uploaded by

Breanna Monique Tao-on
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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used for communication between

directors, designers, etc. with the various


actors and technicians that will be
working on the stage.
9 BASIC AREAS OF A STAGE

Stage directions are from the actors point-


of-view, facing the audience.
C = Center

C
Center Stage (C)
is primarily a position of great
importance or prominence.
D = Down/Downstage

C
D D D
The down stage
position is located
DOWN by the
audience.
U = Up/Upstage

U U U
C
D D D
The upstage position
is located near the
backstage area.

c lo s e to
t a g e is
Up s
c u r t a in!
ck
t h e ba
R = Right/Stage Right

UR U U
CR C
DR D D
Stage Directions are seen from the
ACTOR’s Perspective
L = Left/Stage Left

UR U UL
CR C CL
DR D DL
How can actors and
directors utilize this
knowledge of the
stage space?
B l o c k i n g
• Precise and planned
movement of actors
on stage
• Always taken from
the actors perspective
Types of Stages
TYPES OF STAGES
Proscenium

Arena

End Stage

Thrust
Proscenium
Proscenium
The most common style of staging.
Traditionally the playing space is hidden
by a curtain.
The farthest downstage plane is where the
imaginary 4th wall is.

4th wall: The opening into the world of the


play. If you imagine playing space as a
room with 4 walls, 3 of them are visible, but
one is invisible, allowing the audience to
witness the action of the play.
Thrust /Elizabethan
Thrust staging
•What does thrust staging require of the
actors?
–If playing on the thrust, actors must
remember to turn toward various parts of
the audience during the course of a scene.
–In vocal terms, the actor must project more
when on the thrust, as there is little
acoustic help from the architecture of the
auditorium.
Arena
Arena staging
The playing space is surrounded on
all sides by the audience.
Entrances often consist of aisles
through the audience.
Used to give the audience a sense of
intimacy/close connection with the
production.
Traverse
Traverse staging
• commonly known as an alley,
corridor stage, tennis court, or
catwalk,
• is a form of theatrical (theatre
stage) in which the audience is
predominantly on two sides of
the stage, facing towards each
other.

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