Stage left, stage right

Last night I assembled a portable stage set consisting of 3 sections of wall (4x8) and 3 sections of stage behind those walls that I built for our church. I went to mark them so anyone would know which went where when unassembled and reassembled. Then I thought "Dang, which is stage left and which is stage right?" After reading this thread I'm still not sure.... But I'm marking them as I have always remembered them from my high school drama class; and that is stage left is my left when I face the audience.

Methinks Emma and mdmiller should compare notes... one of them is right, but which one? [%sig%]

stage right is the actor's left. it's designed to confuse actors as they are well known for their ability to handle lots of difficult equations at the same time. ha ha ha.

WHERE COULD OUR PLAY BE?

goddddddddddd! u guys have confused me completely! who the hell ever got this one up! i m going wid stage right as actors right! i think u all must! it has to be this ! who will explain to an actor bout his entry from audience point of view ! sounds a lil awkward! oh i forgot wat i was really suppose to do!

OK, so i'm gonna trust you guys on stage right is the actor's stage right coz i'm doing a major assignment and if this turns out to be wrong...

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. stage right NOUN: The area of the stage to the right of center stage when facing the audience. [%sig%]

i believe it is left/right to the actor

but not quite as it's left from audit view and right's the same, with prompt the left and op the right and rest is left right up to dame on night

Listen you confused lot of nuts!!!! Stage left and right is the actors perspective when he is facing the audience! Stage left is his left hand side and stage right is his right hand side. Downstage is towards the audience and up stage away from the audience. Centre stage is the middle of the stage. So there take it from a professionally trained actor!! [%sig%]

The first Mrs Bob was a stalwart of the Come-to-Piddle amateur dramatics society and this very question was asked during rehearsals for a Christmas production of "The Wizard of Oz". There were terrible scenes as members argued this way and that.... Eventually it was left to Rev. Pritchard to make the final decision. I remember him to this day standing on the stage of the Piddle village hall in his polka dot dress (Rev. Pritchard had been particularly keen to take the lead) and declaring that stage right and left are determined from the audience's perspective. Awful production, as I recall...

I too have had some experience with the amatur dramatics of my local village... Theives common did a production back in 87 of aladdin thinking it rather apt.(thieves/Alladin) Damn good, costumes, - I was responcible for the wardrobe >>>smiles. As far as the story line goes... it becamce a little confused when Mr Gingham, lost his underwear. ...However, the evening was extremely entertaining and with his pantaloons around his ankles continues... "Rub the lamp Alladin and you will see more of my magic!" Exits via wire cables and harness, through centre stage... Mrs Gingham, playing the piano - faints and the vicar runs the her aid, trips, over the pile of gold in the cave - Grabs at Aladdins coat and rips the entire costume off. Jennifer stands topless at side stage left... not realizing, and watching Mr Gingham rise to the occassion... As you can see if it really didn't matter which was left or right... It made the head lines of the parish magazine... "Amatur Dramatics Club, looking for new Costume Designer for Easter Production."

"Rub the lamp, Alladin and you will see more of my magic..." "...the pile of gold in the cave..." Goodness! Alladin will never be the same again! *Tooooooonnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeee ? Where are ya ?????????*

Very interesting. I arrived at this thread because I am helping with a French amateur production and was asked how the English-speaking theatre deals with the left/right problem. In French theatre they use the words "cour" and "jardin" ("courtyard" and "garden") to denote the two sides of the stage without ambiguity. (I haven't yet memorized which is which.) I had to confess that I didn't know the English equivalents, but promised to investigate. Now it seems I will have to report that there are no English equivalents. [%sig%]

Since my earlier post I have found two dictionary references to the "prompt side" and the "o.p.", but I am still not sure I have the complete answer. The Shorter Oxford Dictionary, which is British, says that "prompt" refers to the left side in the UK, and the right side in the USA (from the actors' point of view). Webster's Encyclopaedic Dictionary, which is American, says only that "prompt" means the left side, but describes it as "chiefly British". Hopes of finding a concise and reliable answer for my French friends are fading. [%sig%]

Your new group is right James, stage right is right as seen by audience. This is the whole point of having to say 'stage' right - because it's not right for the actor when he's on stage. What style is your music in? I've had a few daliances on stage myself (opera).

Imagine you are standing on the stage looking out into the auditorium - not out towards the audience as they aren't always there - your right is stage right and your left is stage left. Stage left is also prompt side and stage right is o.p. Unless you have a bastard prompt, in which case stage right becomes prompt. This I know as I work in a theatre.

It is indeed the actor's left and right, as my search on Google for "stage left" revealed. All of the first pages returned said the same thing.