By using shorthand for names and common actions, and setting up the blocking script for easy use, Stage Managers can accurately record action on stage with ease. This guide will focus mostly on blocking notes for Stage Managers, but actors and understudies can also improve their own note taking efficiency with the same methods.
How to set up a blocking script
During prep week the Stage Manager sets up their prompt book, which will include their blocking script. Most people set up their blocking script with the script pages on the left hand side, and what are called slip sheets on the right hand side. Slip sheets are lined pages with mini versions of the ground plan printed on them for recording blocking. They are used so that when there are major blocking changes a new slip sheet is inserted over the old one for a fresh start. This retains record of the old blocking in case the blocking reverts back. This also limits work when a script page gets revised, leaving only a few numbers to transfer over.
To set up this system, script pages should be printed single sided, and hole punched on the opposite side from normal. The slip sheets will be single sided and hole punched normally.
Flipping multiple pages to get to the next script page takes adjustment, but when an entire scene needs to adjust, insert a new slip sheet to start fresh. With new plays where script changes are happening often, you only need to swap in the new script page, not rewrite the entire page of blocking onto the new page.
(A tip: In the script, mark the start of each scene with sticky tabs for easy navigation.)
How to Write Names in Blocking Notation
Before blocking rehearsals begin, you should create a list to assign each character an abbreviated name, Ideally 1 or 2 letters. On small shows where character names don’t start with the same letters, this is fairly easy. The first initial of the character written as a capital letter inside a circle will be clear enough to differentiate each of the characters.
| Symbol | Name |
|---|---|
| A | Ariel |
| AD | Adella |
| AL | Alana |
| AN | Andrina |
| AQ | Aquata |
| AR | Arista |
| AT | Attina |
Larger cast shows tend to need a bit more forethought to create clear naming systems. When possible, I use 1 letter for the names of the leads, since they are on stage the most. When multiple names start with the same letter, you need to get a bit creative. Typically using the first 2 letters of each name will be clear enough, but sometimes other letters will work better. By picking 2 letters that sound the most like the character name when said together, remembering them is much easier. Here is an example of when initials are not good enough from the musical Disney’s the Little Mermaid. (These symbols would have circles around them on the blocking notation to denote names.)
One important note is that you should always use character names, not actor names when recording blocking. There are a few reasons for this, the first being that in the event an actor gets replaced for any reason, all of your blocking notation will have the wrong name. The second is that if someone needs to step in at the last second to cover you, they aren’t very likely to know the actors names. While your cast and crew section of the prompt book should include actor headshots, this is an extra layer of complication that you should try to avoid.
One last Topic to touch on is labeling ensemble parts. Ensemble parts are generally divided into male and female (I know this divide probably needs attention for gender neutrality reasons, if you have suggestions please comment on the post with better options) and each member labeled based on who enters first. This gives us shorthand labels M1, M2, M3… and F1, F2, F3…
How to write Stage Directions in Blocking
What are Stage Directions?
First, I think we should clarify what stage directions are for anyone who is unfamiliar. Stage Directions are a standardized way to tell someone where on stage you are referring to. By design, proscenium stages have two natural perspectives to think about them. The first is from the perspective of the audience, the second is from the perspective of the actors. Because actors usually face toward the audience, their left and right are backwards from the Director. To stop the question of “your right or my right?” that would come with every direction given to actors, we use stage directions. Stage left and stage right are from the actors perspective looking towards the audience. You can also use house left and house right, which are from the perspective of the audience.
The other direction of travel on stage is towards the audience (Downstage) and away from the audience (Upstage). In the Italian Renaissance period, stage floors were raked (Raised at the back of the stage and angled down towards the audience). This meant actors literally walked up a slope as they walked to the back of the stage, and down as the walked toward the audience. These terms have persisted through today even though stages are no longer raked as they used to be.
Each of these general stage directions are abbreviated as SL, SR, US, and DS.
Areas of the stage
By combining stage directions, you can refer to specific areas of the stage. This map of these locations should help act as a shortcut.
Often the exact center will be called Center-Center (or CC). If the stage floor extends past the proscenium towards the audience, that area of the stage is referred to as the Apron. This can be shortened to AP for blocking, and combined with other stage directions for clarity.
Wings
As hinted to in the last image, the ares of the stage hidden by masking curtains (called Legs) are referred to as the wings. By numbering the openings between masking curtains we can clarify which part of the wings someone will enter through. When choreographing scene shifts, clarifying if people or set pieces need to stay US or DS within a specific wing can help prevent accidents.
Onstage vs. Offstage
These positions are more of a relative measure of where someone is on stage. Closer to the edge of the stage is considered offstage, and closer to the middle of the stage is onstage. This can be helpful in describing where someone is in relation to an object they will interact with. This is often used while speaking to clarify and less in written blocking notation. If these need to be written in blocking notation, they can be abbreviated as ON for onstage and OFF for offstage.
Number Lines
Written on the downstage edge of the stage, these numbers start at 0 at the center of the stage, and label how many feet from center each mark is. Typically only even numbers will be labeled (0, 2, 4, 6…), since its not necessary to label every foot individually. It is also possible to go by 5 foot increments, though this is far less common in theatre. Using numbers from the number line in conjunction with stage directions provides very specific marks to hit.
How to write actions and objects in blocking notation
Shorthand for actions and objects tend to be a bit more fluid in comparison to stage directions. There are a few standard abbreviations, but many of the “other” section in the chart below is individual to each Stage Manager. Always include a key like this one in the blocking script so others can tell what your symbols mean should they need to look at your book. This chart shows how I personally denote blocking:
Blocking for large group scenes
In large group ensemble scenes, often using a mix of drawings and written blocking notation is best. If you are short on time, drawing the general shape and including locations of leads is most important. You can add more detail later, but the general shape and location will be most helpful if you don’t have time.
If possible, keep specific notes for whoever is the focus of each moment, since their blocking will be the most important. If one character is the leader in a song, and others are moving around them, then knowing where exactly the leader is will effect the entire group.
fight and dance choreography
Learning the fight and dance choreography of a production can be very helpful, and having video can be even more helpful. Written record of most choreography will need to be specific to spacing on stage. because writing precise body positioning that flows through the entire song for multiple people would be impossible there will often be a dance captain responsible for learning the choreography for the show. Most musicals will have a dance captain assigned within the cast, though on smaller shows with a moment or two of dancing, this will fall to the SM team.
Similarly, when fighting happens on stage there will be a Fight Captain assigned to memorizing and overseeing safety of fights. This will be someone within the cast who hopefully has some form of training, though in smaller non-union settings the SM might be tasked with this.
Who Records Blocking?
The SM team is responsible for recording blocking, and depending on the show this will fall to either the PSM or the first ASM. On a straight play with a few actors, most beginners can easily keep up once they get the hang of it. When first starting out it can make sense to double up on who records blocking with different focusses. For example on a large show in a high school setting, often the SM team will divide up the cast into ensemble and leads, then each SM will focus on their group first and record the other group if they have time. This means between the two SMs they have every bit of blocking recorded so they can combine notes later if needed.
Can you write cues and blocking in the same script?
While writing cues into a blocking script is certainly possible, it is not recommended. While it might seem smart to have both scripts combined into one to all the info is in one place, it makes calling cues much more difficult in my opinion. That being said, sometimes transferring a few blocking notes to your calling script is helpful to keep track of a tricky sequence of cues. In this case, I rely on adding simplified blocking as it refers to the cues in the margin where I am writing cues. Keep blocking separated from the cues in an obvious way so you don’t get lost. Once you call these tricky sections a few times you will have them in muscle memory and just seeing them written gives you something to fall back on.
