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stage direction

/steɪʤ dəˈrɛkʃən/
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Other forms: stage directions

The part of a play that explains how actors should move their bodies is a stage direction. If the stage directions read "Enter, stage left," be sure not to come in from the wrong side!

One of the most famous, and funniest, stage directions in literature is Shakespeare's "Exit, pursued by a bear" in The Winter's Tale. This stage direction instructs the character Antigonus to be chased from the stage by an actor in a bear costume. More common stage directions might include "Exit, stage right," or actions such as "She picks up a glass, then nervously puts it back down on the table."

Definitions of stage direction
  1. noun
    an instruction written as part of the script of a play
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    type of:
    direction, instruction
    a message describing how something is to be done
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