Stage directions are instructions written into a script of a play that dictate how an actor should move or what they should do in a scene. They are essential pieces of information that instruct the production team of a performance about the action of the play. Stage directions give information about the setting, the set and props, the lighting and sound, and the physical actions and emotional state of a character. They also tell actors where to stand/sit, whether to enter/exit, and even if an actor should say something a certain way. Different types of stage directions will give different types of information. Sometimes, it’s purely for the ease of blocking a scene—working out where the actors stand and how they’ll move around the space. Other times, it’s more descriptive of the world of the play, allowing you to conduct analysis as to how you might bring words off the page and into life. Stage directions are usually very simplistic – only there to help readers understand the basics of whats going on. They can be found in two forms: written in paragraph form or in parentheses next to a characters name or line. Stage directions are often determined by the director as part of the staging or blocking of a play, rather than found in a scripts text.