Stage Play

A stage play script is a document that must serve two audiences simultaneously: the director who will interpret it, and the actors who will embody it. Unlike a screenplay, a play script gives stage directions that describe the theatrical world rather than a photographic one.

There is no single universal play format — the UK has several traditions (Samuel French, Methuen Drama, the in-house formats of the National Theatre and Royal Court) — but core conventions are widely shared.

Stage directions in a play are written in the present tense, usually in italics, and set in parentheses or on their own line depending on the publisher's style. They describe only what an audience can see or hear — never inner psychology.

• 01
  Be theatrically specific Don't write "The room is depressing." Write "Bare walls, a single bare bulb, a chair with a broken leg." Give the designer and director something to work with.
• 02
  Stage positions UK and international theatre uses SR (stage right), SL (stage left), CS (centre stage), US (upstage — away from audience), DS (downstage — towards audience). These are from the actor's perspective facing the audience.
• 03
  Sound and light You may indicate sound cues and lighting states in directions, but keep them suggestive rather than prescriptive. "The lights narrow to a spot on her face" is acceptable. Writing a full lighting plot in the script is not.
• 04
  Entrances and exits Always note when a character enters or exits, and from where if it matters. "CORIN enters SR" or "She exits through the upstage door."