Use stage directions for visible facts
See this course’s project requirements
An original 3–5-minute script with contrasting objectives, playable actions, purposeful dialogue, economical stage directions and a solo table-read revision.
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What to include
- Write a complete original two-person scene with beginning, turn and consequence.
- Show two objectives and at least two tactics.
- Supply essential setting/prop directions with consistent continuity.
- Include a turning-point revision and actual solo-review method.
Review and revise
Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.
- Action: dialogue pursues concrete objectives.
- Structure: new evidence/actions cause the central turn.
- Playability: props and visible directions are coherent.
- Revision: review claims and before/after changes are traceable.
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The idea in everyday life
Use directions for setting, entrances, important movement, prop changes and essential silence. An actor cannot literally perform a paragraph of internal analysis. You may describe a pause or visible gesture without commanding a fixed feeling. Keep prop ownership traceable so a scene does not require impossible simultaneous actions.
A direction tells what can be encountered in performance.
Use stage directions for visible facts — worked practice
A direction tells what can be encountered in performance.
Unplayable direction: “[Dev realizes the entire meaning of family.]” Revision: “[Dev folds the kite’s last strip, then stops with the knot loose.]” Continuity problem: Rowan closes the box while Dev’s hand and kite remain inside without any removal. Repair: “[Dev lifts the kite free. Rowan closes the empty box.]” The direction makes a physical sequence possible without explaining the character’s full inner life.
1. 4.1 Use
List where the box, kite and key begin. Identify any move your dialogue requires; no actor should need to infer a vanished prop.
You should see: The beginning state is supplied.
2. 4.2 Use
Replace one private-thought direction with a visible action or omit it if the dialogue already carries the information.
You should see: The knot action can be seen.
3. 4.3 Use
Check each prop transfer and essential pause in order. Write the lift before the box closes, then read the sequence as physical instructions.
You should see: The physical order is possible.
4. 4.4 Use
Cut unnecessary directions controlling every blink or emotion. Keep the action whose removal would change the plot; test a paper blocking sketch if moving is inaccessible.
You should see: Retained directions support essential continuity.
What to finish
A direction/prop continuity pass with before/after corrections.
Watch for this
Treating an internal interpretation as visible action or overdirecting every delivery.
How can I tell I understand it?
Another reader can trace essential objects through the scene.
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Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01
Read the institutional textbook section on dialogue versus visible setting/props/movement directions; no source play text reused.
Access: Public page text or PDF was opened and read through the web reader on 2026-10-01; no signup required for reading.
Reuse: Linked for further study. All LifeStarter scenarios, samples, assets and assessments are original; no source exercises or artwork are copied.
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