The question of whether or not to include stage directions in your script, or how much stage direction to include in your script, is an important one. Whereas some playwrights, like George Bernard Shaw, chose to include extensive stage directions at the beginning of his plays, outlining every detail of how his scripts were to be produced and performed, other playwrights, including William Shakespeare, chose to use incredibly sparse stage directions, mentioning only when characters entered and exited the stage. This article takes a look at what stage directions are and how they are used in dramatic scripts, followed by a consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of using stage directions.
What Are Stage Directions and How Are They Used?
Stage directions are parenthetical or italicized lines of text in a dramatic script. They can be used for a number of purposes, including describing the setting of the play, the configuration of the set, the appearances of the characters, and their movements throughout the script. They may also be used before, during, or after a line of dialogue in an adverbial sense, describing how a character is speaking or reacting to another character.
Example:
JANE enters and crosses to the sofa, perching herself on its arm.
JANE: (Coyly) Did you miss me?
JOHN: (Wrapping his arms around her) Did I ever.
Should You Use Stage Directions in Your Script?
While stage directions can be highly beneficial to your script, new writers often make the mistake of including far too many in their work. It’s important to remember that while you are the playwright, you are not the director of your script. (And in the case that you do direct your own work, you don’t need your actor’s every movement written in stone before you even start rehearsing.) If your script has more stage directions than dialogue, chances are that any potential producer or director will either scrap all of your stage directions and do what they think is right for the show, or choose not to work with your script at all.
On the other hand, if you choose to use absolutely no stage directions in your script, you run the risk of having your show interpreted very differently than how you had intended. And while it’s not always a negative to have your script reinterpreted, the results can be ugly if your story is skewed far enough to fit into someone else’s vision. Just imagine all of the updated, contemporary productions of Shakespeare plays put on stage every single year.
Which Stage Directions Should You Include?
The trick, then, is to find a balance in regards to how much stage direction to include in your script. You do not, for example, need to describe every piece of clothing each of your characters are wearing, down to the colour and pattern of the fabrics. If a specific piece of clothing is important to the storyline, you are better off to somehow include it in your dialogue than you are to mention it in stage directions. If you make mention of an important detail twice in dialogue, you will almost certainly see that detail in every production of your play.
Another common mistake new playwrights make is to include stage directions for every movement, entrance, and exit of their characters. Keep in mind that your scenes do not always have to start with your characters walking in and end with them exiting; rather than write your script this way, try including your scene breaks and leaving out the stage directions and consider the various ways the scene could be produced – it will open up a world of possibilities.
As with many things in life, when it comes to stage directions, less is more (but keep the crucial details in tact).
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