Opening Stage Directions

THE PLAYWRITING SEMINARS > FORMAT > FORMAT EXAMPLE > OPENING s. d.

The Opening Stage Direction needs to get to the point. A few playwrights feel compelled to write paragraphs here, but most tell us only very briefly where we are, who's there, and when it's happening.


				ACT I

				(A courtyard.  Joan and Larkin
				surrounded by a pool of light, Joan
				in a tan trench coat and Larkin in 
				sweater and wool scarf. They are
				alone as it's possible to be in this
				business.)

				JOAN
	How are you?

If you feel the urge for paragraphs in your Opening s.d., put them on the Setting & Time Page and keep your Opening s.d. to a brief summary. A long Opening s.d. only makes sense if the play begins with detailed physical action that's essential to understanding the basis of the story.

Most contemporary playwrights realize from long experience with the production process that they don't need to do much more than David Mamet did for THE CRYPTOGRAM . . .

				ONE				

				(A living room. One door leading
				off to the kitchen, one staircase
				leading up to the second floor. 
				Evening. Del is seated on the couch. 
				John comes downstairs dressed in
				his pajamas.)

Wendy Wasserstein's a bit more forthcoming in THE SISTERS ROSENSWEIG. . . SCENE 1 (Late morning Friday. The room is decorator "done" with cozy, comfy, but expensive chintz couches, chairs, and window treatments. There is a dining room upstage right and a staircase upstage left leading to the bedrooms. Tess, seventeen, in blue jeans and a flannel shirt, is listening to Sara's collegiate all- women's singing group doing an a cappella version of "Shine On Harvest Moon." She speaks into a tape recorder.)

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