Parts Of The Stage

When rehearsing for the show, the director will probably use special words for parts of the stage to tell you where to come onto the stage from, where to move to, or where to go off.   Some of these words are listed below. If you stand in the middle of the stage and face the audience:

• STAGE LEFT… everything to your LEFT is STAGE LEFT.
• STAGE RIGHT… everything to your RIGHT is STAGE RIGHT.
• UPSTAGE… everything BEHIND you is UPSTAGE.
• DOWNSTAGE… everything INFRONT of you is DOWNSTAGE.
• WINGS… The wings are the areas at the side of the stage where you wait to come onto the stage. If you are in the wings, the audience should not be able to see you. An easy way to check this is that if you can see the audience, then they can see you!
• TABS… Tabs are the names of the curtains at a theatre. There may be a set of tabs that open at the beginning of the show to reveal the stage to the audience, or maybe a tab that comes in that you act in front of while the scenery is changed behind you. You must never touch the tabs, and if you have to wait behind them for them to open you must stand completely still and in silence or the audience will hear every noise you make!