Stage Direction Vocabulary

The basic terminology for stage directions comes from the structure of the Elizabethan stage.
Because much of the audience stood in front of the stage the Elizabethan stage was built on a
rake, making the back higher so that sight lines stayed more consistent as the performers
moved up and down. We get the terms upstage and downstage from the literal higher
and lower parts of the stage. Upstage means away from the audience and downstage means
toward the audience. Stage left and stage right are the performers left and right if they are
facing the audience, or house.
A cross is when a performer moves across the space; for example, it can be from one piece of
furniture to another, to another performer, or to a specific part of the stage.
Cheating out refers to the practice of performers opening up their profile to the audience. In
order to look natural and to be seen clearly, performers need to turn toward the audience to at
least a three-quarter profile. It will seem weird at first, but with practice, cheating out will be
instinctive. (Another rule is to never turn away from the audience because you want them to
see the faces of the performers as much as possible, so even in movement the focus needs to
be downstage.)
Stage business refers to any activity that a performer does other than speaking and moving.
Generally stage business is done to make the character look more natural in the environment
by having particular habits or by exhibiting curiosity. The stage business also gives the
audience non-verbal clues about the character because they can see what he or she notices,
how he or she behaves in secret or what role the character plays in relation to others and
the space.
Entrances and exits are fairly self-explanatory, but in order for the audience to be clear what
off-stage location each entrance is from or each exit is to there must be consistency. This
means the director, stage manager, designers, and performers all need to know how to get to
and from all the off-stage locations mentioned or indicated in the script. For example, if the
stage is the living room of a house, the kitchen needs to always be downstage left, it cannot
suddenly change to upstage right because the cross to that exit looks better, the audience will
not be able to understand why the performer is going to the bathroom to get a sandwich! The
best way to make sure things stay consistent is to make a copy of the stage plan and write on
each exit the places that it connects to. If there are multiple locations shown on stage
throughout the show, these labeled stage plans become even more crucial so that any related
areas stay in the same pattern.