stage direction

American  

noun

1. an instruction written into the script of a play, indicating stage actions, movements of performers, or production requirements.

2. the art or technique of a stage director.

---

stage direction British  

noun

1. an instruction to an actor or director, written into the script of a play

---

stage direction Cultural  

1. Part of the script of a play that tells the actors how they are to move or to speak their lines. Enter, exit, and exeunt are stage directions.

---

Etymology

Origin of stage direction

First recorded in 1780–90

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stage direction

She "looked suitably humbled and tearful" as she emerged, he said, going on to praise the stage direction.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

The use of stage direction as couples therapy is one of the more poignant sequences in a film that tends to dance along the line separating the farcical from the bittersweet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026

It’s a stage direction that the director Philipp Stölzl has taken to heart in his gently surreal production at the Residenztheater.

From New York Times ● Mar. 27, 2023

Danish theater director Kasper Holten, who is handling he stage direction, said it would be wrong to cancel the opera, “which is about unmasking power.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2022

They were in Julius Caesar now and the stage direction “Alarum” confused Katie.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---