Also called: Upstage, Downstage, Stage left, Stage right.

Stage directions name positions on the stage from the performer's point of view, facing the audience. Stage left is the actor's left; stage right the actor's right. Downstage is toward the audience and upstage away from it, from the days when stages were raked and the back really was higher.

The directions combine — down stage left, up stage centre — and abbreviate (DSL, USC) in blocking notation. In a script, "stage directions" also means the playwright's descriptions of action and setting.

In CueCall

Crosses in the blocking editor are listed in prompt-book notation ("X DSL") beside the drawn arrows, so the written and the visual record agree.

Features

Stage Blocking & Scene Visuals — Blocking recorded against a scene alongside backdrop images and reference videos.

Related terms

Blocking — Blocking is the planned movement and positioning of performers on stage: where each actor stands, when they cross, and where they end up, worked out in…
Proscenium, thrust and arena stages — A proscenium stage faces the audience through an arch, with the action seen from one side. A thrust stage projects into the house so the audience sits on three…

More terms

CueCall theatre production glossary

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