stage direction

noun

: a description (as of a character or setting) or direction (as to indicate stage business) provided in the text of a play

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Martin Riker’s The Guest Lecture begins with a paragraph of stage direction, establishing the scene that will make up the entirety of the novel. —Meghan O’gieblyn, The New York Review of Books, 2 Mar. 2023

Hopefully whoever plays Hedda also does the bear who causes that famous exeunt, chased by stage direction. —Vulture, 31 Aug. 2022

Galella studied acting and stage direction in California and worked as a photographer in the air force during the Korean War. —Sasha Urban, Variety, 2 May 2022

Jess McLeod’s vivid and snappy stage direction make the two-act play’s humor and quirky characters pop, along with fun, cartoonlike stage projections designed by Blake McCarty. —San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Mar. 2022

Callie Prendiville’s stage direction transcended the usual limitations of plays on film. —San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Dec. 2021

Hammerstein then proceeded to go through every stage direction, every song, every scene, every line of dialogue. —Washington Post, 26 Nov. 2021

Then the screenplay then cuts off in the middle of the action, with the final stage direction left hanging. —Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 3 Aug. 2021

The play, with film direction by Amber McGinnis and stage direction by Emilyn Kowaleski, was shot at Woolly. —Washington Post, 17 May 2021

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Word History

First Known Use

1790, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

stage direction

noun

: a playwright's instruction to a director and actors