by Will Dunne
• If two acts feel similar, the turning point at the end of the first act may not have caused a big enough change in the dramatic journey. To create two distinct units of action, can you heighten the impact of this turning point or find another one that is more powerful?
• Will the script play best with or without an intermission between acts, and why?
STAGE DIRECTIONS
Stage directions are instructions from the playwright to the director, designers, and actors about the play in production. Such directions can strengthen or weaken a script and contribute greatly to a reader’s impression of the story and the writer.
Some directions describe production elements, such as characters, settings, props, costumes, lighting, and sound. Other directions tell actors when to enter or exit a scene and may include individual notes to them about their roles. Ideally, all of the nondialogue elements of the script are important, but some can be critical to the story. At the end of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, for example, it is a stage direction that indicates Nora has left her husband and family: “The sound of a door shutting is heard from below.”
Some plays have almost no stage directions. In the opening scene of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the only actor instructions are entrances and exits and the only production information is a six-word set description: “Elsinore. A platform before the castle.” Other plays have voluminous directions, as in the opening of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night where pages are devoted to describing the set and the characters who enter it. A writer’s approach to stage directions is often influenced by the time period in which he or she lives. In theatre today, less is more when it comes to explaining how to stage a play or telling actors how to act.
Whether sparse or plentiful, stage directions all have one thing in common: they are not read by the audience. They do not need to be literary or entertaining, therefore, unless—as in The Clean House—there is a stylistic reason for doing so. Since their purpose is to instruct production members, stage directions tend to work best when they focus on essential physical elements, such as what should be seen or heard onstage, and leave to the director such issues as blocking, that is, the movement and positioning of the actors in a scene.
■ DOUBT: A PARABLE
Scene introductions. As with most plays, each scene begins with directions that identify where the scene takes place, who is present, and what is happening. For most scenes in Doubt, this introduction is three sentences or less. In scene 2, for example, the setting is described as “a corner office in a Catholic school in the Bronx.” Aloysius is described briefly with a focus on her nun’s habit and her manner: “She is watchful, reserved, unsentimental.” The directions also state that she “sits at her desk, writing in a ledger with a fountain pen.” Each detail of this introduction, from her attire to her choice of writing instrument, is key to the story.
Physical action. Stage directions are used regularly throughout the play to indicate physical action. These directions are not extraneous suggestions about how to block the scene. Instead they focus on storytelling. In scene 7, for example, a stage direction reminds us that the meeting between Father Flynn and Sister James is a forbidden one because no third party is present. As she cries about her loss of joy, the direction states, “He pats her uneasily, looking around.”
Emotional life. Stage directions in Doubt often imply emotional life but rarely tell the actor how a deliver a line. In scene 8, for example, after the tense meeting between Aloysius and Mrs. Muller, a direction highlights its emotional impact: “Sister Aloysius is shaken.”
Breaks in dialogue. Dramatic writers often use stage directions to indicate breaks in the dialogue. Shanley finds different ways to express such breaks. In some cases, he simply uses the word “pause” or “silence.” At other times, he implies the break, as in scene 8, just before the final showdown between Flynn and Aloysius, when a stage direction suggests a lull before the storm: “He comes in and slams the door behind him. They face each other.”
Dialogue delivery. While the playwright refrains from telling actors how to say their lines, he occasionally uses typography to suggest dialogue delivery, such as italics to emphasize words that should be stressed (“Your bond with your fellow human beings was your despair”), ellipses to suggest pauses within a line (“She suggested I be more . . . formal”), ellipses to indicate that a line trails off to silence (“Of course, not, but . . .”), and exclamation points to suggest lines that should be spoken with emotional intensity (“You have to stop this campaign against me!”).
Technical effects. There are no special effects in the play, but stage directions do specify a few lighting and sound cues. For example, directions call for a “crossfade” between most scenes, that is, a gradual shift in lighting from one setting to another so that the action can flow from scene to scene without a blackout. Sound cues are less frequent but important when they occur. In scene 7, the cawing of a crow begins and ends the meeting between Flynn and James in the garden and adds an ominous quality to his plea of innocence.
Commentary. Occasionally Shanley uses stage directions to insert special notes about a character or scenic development. In scene 5, for example, when the disagreement between Aloysius and Flynn about the school Christmas pageant prompts James to intervene, a stage direction states her objective: “Sister James tries to break a bit of tension.”
■ TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
Scene introductions. Since the play takes place in a single room, the setting is described only in scene 1, when we first see it, and in scene 5, when it has been transformed into a romantic setting for a dinner date. The opening description is brief: “Thursday evening. A seedily furnished rooming house room. A bed, a reclining chair, a small wooden chair, some other stuff but not much else.” There is also a reference to the play’s most important scenic element: a three-card monte setup. Booth is described as “a black man in his early 30s.” The focus is on his “studied and awkward” attempts to practice card hustling.
The opening directions for the other scenes specify time shifts—for example, “Much later that same Friday evening”—and who is doing what as the action begins. This description is sometimes detailed, as in scene 2, when more than two hundred words are devoted to how Booth enters and removes layers of clothing and other items that he has shoplifted and worn home.
Physical action. In addition to character entrances and exits, directions are used throughout the play to indicate important physical action. In scene 2, for example, Lincoln in his Abraham Lincoln costume rehearses getting assassinated for his job at the arcade: “He pretends to get shot, flings himself on the floor and thrashes around.”
Emotional life. Stage directions seldom define a character’s emotional life, but often imply it through physical action. In scene 1, for example, when he is startled by his brother’s unexpected entrance, Booth’s state of alarm is suggested by the direction: “Booth, sensing someone behind him, whirls around, pulling a gun from his pants.”
Breaks in dialogue. The playwright has created an original system to communicate breaks in dialogue. A short pause is indicated by the term “Rest” in parentheses. A longer break, or “Spell,” is indicated by repeating the character’s name with no dialogue after it. In scene 1, for example, after Lincoln warns Booth not to antagonize him, there is a silence that leads to Booth evicting him:
LINCOLN
Don’t push me.
BOOTH
LINCOLN
BOOTH
You gonna have to leave.
Dialogue delivery. There are no explicit stage directions to actors about how to say lines, but the playwright frequently uses typographical elements to suggest dialogue delivery, such as spelling throughout the script to imply dialect pronunciation (“Ima give you back yr stocking, man”), dashes to suggest pauses within a line (“She’s—she’s late”), dashes to indicate lines that are interrupted (“She was once—”), and hyphenation to imply a wooden tone (“I-see-thuh-
red-card”).
Emotional intensity is indicated through a variety of elements, such as exclamation points (“You pull that one more time I’ll shoot you!”), italics (“I am Booth!”), capitalization (“YOU STANDING IN MY WAY, LINK!”), and occasionally, at moments of utmost passion, a combination of typographical devices (“OPEN IT!!!”).
In addition, the playwright uniquely uses parentheses to indicate that the enclosed line is to be spoken softly, as when a character makes an aside or speaks sotto voce. The number of parentheses suggests the sound level, from (( )), meaning quietly, to ((((((( ))))))), meaning very quietly.
Technical effects. There are no special effects in the play and almost no use of directions to indicate light or sound cues. The only lighting instructions occur at the end of scenes 1 and 3 as the brothers end their day and a direction states that “lights fade.” The only sound indication is the implied gunshot that must be heard in scene 6 when Booth shoots Lincoln.
Commentary. In Topdog/Underdog, brackets uniquely function as stage directions to indicate that the enclosed words can be cut. In scene 6, for example, when Booth describes how Lincoln’s wife once seduced him, several lines are bracketed so that a director has the option to remove them for a production.
■ THE CLEAN HOUSE
Stage directions are woven extensively throughout the script and contribute to its unconventional storytelling approach. They often look like lines of poetry, with descriptions of dramatic action that are lyrical and line breaks that emphasize important details or suggest rhythms, as in these directions from one act, scene 11, describing a tense moment between Lane and Virginia:
A pause.
For a moment,
Lane and Virginia experience
a primal moment during which they
are seven and nine years old,
inside the mind, respectively.
They are mad.
Then they return quite naturally
to language, as adults do.
Ruhl explains: “I wanted the stage directions to feel like part of the world of the play. And I think in this play, in particular, I was interested in giving little love notes to the actors, like saying, ‘Oh, this is something between you and me, actor, that I’ll share with you that maybe no one else will know, like you have a deep impulse to order the universe now, or right now you’re going to fall in love very suddenly.’”1
Scene introductions. Since most of the action takes place in Lane’s living room, introductory scene directions seldom address the setting, which has already been described at the front of the script. The setting is mentioned only when it has significantly changed, as in act two, scene 1, where the opening directions state, “The white living room has become a hospital.”
Introductory directions tend to be minimal and usually identify who is present and what they are doing, as in act one, scene 13: “Virginia irons. / Matilde watches.” Sometimes characters are briefly described, as in act two, scene 6, when we learn that Matilde and Ana are wearing sunglasses and sunhats as they sit on the balcony surrounded by apples. Two scenes have no introductory directions and simply begin with dialogue.
Physical action. One of the most common uses of stage directions in the play is to indicate physical action during a scene. These doings may be big events, as when Virginia, in act two, scene 9, messes up Lane’s living room. More often, however, they are small actions that reveal character or suggest mood. In act one, scene 13, Virginia gets stressed out after finding another woman’s underwear in her sister’s laundry and then hearing Lane threaten to shoot herself. The mounting tension is expressed in physical directions: “Virginia sits. / Virginia stands. / Virginia sits. / Virginia stands. / Virginia has a deep impulse to order the universe. / Virginia arranges objects on the coffee table.”
Emotional life. In some cases, the script spells out how a character feels, as in act one, scene 5, when “Lane is on the verge of tears.” Compared to physical action, however, emotional life is a less common topic for directions and typically implied by what the characters say and do.
Breaks in dialogue. The terms “pause” and “silence” are used occasionally, but breaks in dialogue are usually indicated by physical action, such as “Charles examines the bandage on Lane’s wrist. / She pulls away.” The most common substitute for “silence” is the direction that one character “looks at” another. In act two, scene 5, for example, after Virginia makes a hypothetical statement about being in love with Charles, the directions read: “Virginia looks at Charles. / Lane looks at Virginia.”
Dialogue delivery. In act one, scene 13, as Matilde and Virginia speculate on whether or not Charles wears women’s underwear, stage directions explain how Matilde’s one-word responses are to be delivered. First she says “No,” with the direction “as in—he wouldn’t dare.” Then she says “But,” with the direction “as in—he might dare.” These are among the rare explicit instructions to the actors about how to say their lines.
Most dialogue delivery is implied only through typography, such as dashes to indicate pauses within lines (“He’s—charismatic”), dashes to indicate interrupted lines (“I just thought—”), ellipses to indicate lines that trail off to silence (“I’m sorry. I was just trying to say . . .”), and italics to stress important words (“I’m paying her to clean my house!”). Emotional intensity is implied by exclamation points (“Stop cleaning!”) and by capitalization (“I DO NOT WANT TO BE TAKEN CARE OF.”).
Technical effects. Lighting, sound, and special effects are occasionally suggested but rarely specified. The term “Blackout” is used only once (at the end of act one), and one of the few lighting cues is a poetic description: “Night turns to day.” Sound directions occur more often and are usually simple music cues. Key special effects include snow falling in Lane’s living room as Charles traipses through Alaska and the use of projected subtitles at certain times in the story, as in act two, scene 1,when the subtitle reads “Charles Performs Surgery on the Woman He Loves.”
Commentary. The playwright’s unique voice is evident throughout the stage directions as she makes comments about the dramatic action, suggests staging possibilities, and poses questions. Act two begins, for example, with a surrealistic scene in which Charles performs surgery on Ana. The directions state, “If the actor who plays Charles is a good singer, / it would be nice if he could sing / an ethereal medieval love song in Latin / about being medically cured by love.” Another example of this flexible approach to staging is found at the end of act one, when Lane imagines Charles making love to his new wife. The directions state, “Charles and Ana appear. / Charles undoes Ana’s gown. / Is it a hospital gown or a ball gown?”
ANALYZING YOUR STORY
Review your use of stage directions in the script.
FOR EACH SCENE . . .
• Do the opening stage directions identify where and when the scene takes place? Have you described only what matters most about this place at this time?
• Do the opening directions identify who is present now and what they are doing?
• During the scene, have you clearly indicated when characters enter and exit?
• Do you need to add or remove any information about costumes or props?
• Are there any critical physical directions during the scene—for example, “He takes out a gun”—that need to be added? Any unnecessary directions that can be eliminated?
• If a direction tells an actor how to say a line—for example, “Nervously”—can you render it unnecessary by strengthening the dialogue?
• If you tell actors when to pause during the dialogue, are you doing so judiciously? Are there specified dialogue breaks that can be eliminated?
• Think about your general use in dialogue of typographical elements—such as italics, dashes, ellipses, exclamation points, and capitalization. Do these elements strengthen the dialogue by clarifying or heightening it? Or do they weaken the dialogue by taking the place of effective word choices or by clut
tering the lines with too many intrusions?
• Do you need to add directions related to lighting, sound, or special effects? Could any now present be deleted?
• Do you need to add any directions to clarify what is happening in a scene?
• Have you removed any directions that are not essential to the dramatic action and would be better left to the director, actors, and designers as they work on your script?
• What impact do stage directions add, if any, to the end of each scene?
OTHER SCRIPT ELEMENTS
The front matter of a script is introductory material that appears before the play itself, such as a list of characters and general description of the setting. In some cases, the front matter may also include a scene breakdown, dedication, inspirational quotes, or special notes about the play or its staging. Notes may also appear at the end of the script after the last scene.
■ DOUBT: A PARABLE
Dedication. In response to popular satires about nuns, Shanley dedicates Doubt to Catholic nuns who have devoted their lives to service and poses this question: “Though they have been much maligned and ridiculed, who among us has been so generous?”
Preface. This essay introduces some of Shanley’s thoughts on the play: what it’s about, why he wrote it, how it grew out of his own experience as a Catholic school student in the 1960s. Most importantly, the preface explores his views on doubt as a catalyst for growth that requires courage and the recognition that “there is no last word” in defining truth.
Character list. The four characters are listed in order of appearance and by their full names, for example, “Sister Aloysius Beauvier.” There is no character description here except for each character’s age, such as: “fifties/sixties.”
