stage direction

noun

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

the art or technique of a stage director.

Origin of stage direction

First recorded in 1780–90

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stage direction

Historical Examples of stage direction

In the stage-direction the last four words are omitted Remorse.
The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The stage-direction says, 'shaken with horror:' no wonder that he shook!
The Life of Friedrich Schiller
Thomas Carlyle
At l. 50 the stage-direction was "Exit Sergestus with Ascanius."
The Works of Christopher Marlowe, Vol. 2 (of 3)
Christopher Marlowe
I had said all I had to say, and it seemed to me that about here the stage-direction "exit" was written in my part.
My Man Jeeves
P. G. Wodehouse
The 1st quarto has here the stage-direction: "They whisper in his eare;" that is, whisper the reason of their departure.
Shakespeare's Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare

British Dictionary definitions for stage direction

stage direction

noun theatre

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

stage direction in Culture

stage direction

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.