An explanation of some of the stage directions in Shakespeare's plays, and how they relate to contemporary staging conditions.
The stage directions that are left in Shakespeare texts obviously refer to theatrical conditions during the Renaissance, either in public playhouses like The Globe, or private indoor theatres such as Blackfriars. In either case, the differences to modern staging conditions are striking, and can create some confusion. Here are explanations of some of the more difficult terms.
- Above: Characters who appear “above”, such as Juliet, are standing on the first floor of the “tiring-house”. It can be a balcony, city walls, or a way of accidentally “overhearing” conversations.
- Alarum: Despite the constant risk of fire (the first Globe Theatre burnt down when a stage cannon set fire to the thatched roof) this is not an instruction to evacuate the building. An “alarum” is a sequence of fighting, which Renaissance playwrights used rather as modern film directors use a chase sequence or a martial-arts duel. It may have involved actors dashing in and out of the tiring-house and even running through the audience.
- Below: In literal terms, this refers to the space underneath the stage. Since the stage at The Globe Theatre was about five feet off the ground, there was a considerable space underneath, accessed by a trap-door. Called “Hell” in theatrical slang, this area could be a dungeon, the underworld, a grave, or in fact Hell itself. The area has rather eerie connotations – it is used for the grave-digger and funeral scenes in Hamlet, the madman’s cell in Twelfth Night and when the wailing of “hautboys” or oboes is heard from “below” in Antony and Cleopatra, Antony believes that the gods of the underworld are deserting him.
- Discovered: At the back of the stage was a central “discovery space”, an area set into the façade of the tiring-house, with a door or curtain in front of it, which could be used for rooms, caves, and so on: for example, Desdemona’s bedroom in Othello or Prospero’s cell in The Tempest.
- Dumbshow: An extended sequence of action without words, rather like a mime. This was quite an old-fashioned technique by Shakespeare’s time (the out-of-date player troupe in Hamlet perform a dumb-show), but some plays still used it. In Renaissance theatre, it often allowed the playwright to present events which were necessary to the plot, but which would have held up the action if they were fully dramatised with speeches.
- Flourish: nothing to do with waving a handkerchief, this is in fact a direction for a sound effect. It refers to a “flourish of cornets”, or fanfare, which would probably be played from the gallery or the top platform. It is often used for the entrances of royal or important characters.
- Severally: Equivalent to the modern English “separately”. There were two doors and one central space for the actors to enter and leave at the back of the stage, so characters who arrive “severally” are coming from different directions, and probably different imagined locations.
The copyright of the article Shakespearean Stage Directions in Shakespearean Theatre is owned by Jem Bloomfield. Permission to republish Shakespearean Stage Directions in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
