Stage Directions Guide NRHS Theatre Classes Stage Directions Guide

There are three generally accepted types of stages for the theatre: Proscenium Thrust Arena or “Theatre in the Round”

Proscenium The audience is located on one side of the stage with the remaining sides hidden and used by the performers and technicians. The audience directly faces the stage--which is typically raised several feet above front row audience level--and views only one side of the scene. This one side is commonly known as the invisible FOURTH WALL of the scene. The proscenium arch evolved from the proskenium in Ancient Greek theatres. This was the space in front of the skene or backdrop where the actors actually played. The first indoor theatres were created in French tennis courts and Italian Renaissance palaces where the newly-embraced principles of perspective allowed designers to create stunning vistas with buildings and trees decreasing in size toward a "vanishing point" on the horizon. Documentation shows the first official Proscenium stage came about in the 1580’s at a Parisian Opera House (France) Stage floors were raked upward slightly from front to back, in order to contribute to the perspective illusion, and also to make groups of actors more visible to audiences who were at first seated on a flat floor.

The proscenium hides the sides of the stage, called the wings: Later, audience seating was raked, and balconies were added to give audiences a fuller view. By the end of the 1800’s most stages had level floors, and much of the audience looked down on, rather than up to, the stage. The proscenium hides the sides of the stage, called the wings: May be used by theatre personnel working on the particular performance as well as a space for storage of scenery and theatrical properties (props), typically obscured by side curtains, or framed scenery pieces, called legs. Several rows of short curtains across the top of the stage, called teasers, hide the backdrops which are hidden above in the stage loft until ready for use. Often, a stage may extend in front of the proscenium arch which offers additional playing area to the actors. This area is a referred to as the apron. Underneath and in front of the apron is sometimes an orchestra pit which is used by musicians. The orchestra pit may sometimes be covered and used as an additional playing space in order to bring the actors closer to the audience. The stage is often raised higher than the audience. Space above some proscenium stages may include a fly-loft where curtains, scenery, and battens supporting a variety of lighting instruments may hang.

Thrust A thrust stage is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. Similar to proscenium stages but with a platform or performance area that extends into the audience space so that the audience is located on three sides A thrust has the advantage of greater intimacy between audience and performer than a Proscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area. Entrances onto a thrust are made from backstage, although some theatres provide for performers to enter through the audience using side entrances. As with an arena, the audience in a thrust stage theatre may view the stage from three or more sides. If a performance employs the fourth wall, that imaginary wall must be maintained on multiple sides. Because the audience can view the performance from a variety of perspectives, it is usual for the blocking, props, and scenery to receive thorough consideration to ensure that no perspective is blocked from view.

Arena or “Theatre in the Round” The audience is located on all four sides of the stage. This method of stage design consists of a stage situated in the centre of the theatre, with the audience facing it from all sides. The audience is placed quite close to the action which provokes a feeling of intimacy and involvement. In-the-round stages require special considerations in production such as: Scenery that does not obscure actors and the rest of the stage from parts of the audience. Backdrops and curtains cannot be used, so the director must find other ways to set the scene. Lighting design is more difficult than for a Proscenium stage, since the actor must be lit from all sides without blinding nearby audience members. Entrances and exits must be made either through the audience, making surprise entrances very difficult, or via closed-off walkways, which must be inconspicuous. As a result, stage entrances are normally in the corners of the theatre. The actors need to ensure that they do not have their backs turned to any part of the audience for long periods of time, in order to be seen and heard clearly.

Additional theatre space: Created and Found Spaces: The fourth type of stage incorporates created and found stages which may be constructed specifically for a performance or may involve a space that is adapted as a stage. A stage can also be improvised where ever a suitable space can be found. Examples: Staging a performance in a non traditional space such as a basement of a building, a side of a hill or, in the case of a troupe, the street. A makeshift stage can be created by modifying an environment. For example demarcating the boundaries of a stage in an open space by laying a carpet and arranging seating before it.

Additions and modifications Proscenium and In-The-Round stage types are only the basic templates for stage layout. There are also extras which can be added in order to improve the stage: Boxes : feature of more modern stage designs in which temporary walls are built inside any proscenium stage, at a slight angle to the original walls, in order to allow audience members located to the left or right of the proscenium (the further out, the larger the angle) to see the entirety of the stage. They enable the creation of rat runs around the back of the stage, which allow cast members to walk between entrances and exits without being seen by the audience. Aprons: pieces of stage added to the front of a proscenium stage which protrudes past the proscenium arch, pushing out into the audience in order to make them feel more involved. Aprons can usually also be removed to uncover the theatre orchestra pit. Thus, it is only used when there is an event not needing an orchestra while taking place (i.e. a concert).

Stage Directions Areas of the stage are named from the actor’s point of view. If you are standing on stage looking out at the audience, stage right will be to your right and stage left to your left. Upstage is towards the back wall and downstage is closest to the audience. This terminology comes from the days when stages were raked, or angled down, towards the audience so that everyone standing on the ground could see (now our theater seating is usually raked instead). The proscenium arch is the vertical frame around the stage.

Upstage: moving away from the audience, towards the back of the stage. Downstage: Moving towards the audience, towards the front of the stage. Stage Right: Moving towards the Left (as the audience will see you moving right-remember they are viewing you from the opposite direction) Stage Left: Moving towards the Right. Cross: Crossing the stage to a predetermined position. An example in a prompt book might look like: "X (cross) DSL to DSC (down stage center), X US (upstage), and out (exit) SR (stage right).

Apron (sometimes called the “lip of the stage” Backstage Stage Right Wing Upstage Right USR USC Upstage Left USL Stage Left Wing Stage Right SR Center Stage CS Stage Left SL Downstage Right DSR DSC Downstage Left DSL Proscenium Apron (sometimes called the “lip of the stage” Orchestra “Pit” – Only in Some Theatres “The House” aka the audience