Creative Writing

1. STAGING MODALITIES
Prepared by: Jo-Ane T. Sieras

2. According to Longley (2019), drama is the
interpretation of events, both fictional and
nonfictional, in a form of performance using
prose or poetry dialogues. This portrayal may
be performed in stage, radio or in film.
Tracing its history, it originated in England
and is performed to audience in a platform
referred to as “stage”. Today, the changing
styles of drama from its onset in history is
also reflected in the changing stage types
that requires different modes of acting.

3. STAGING
Is the process of selecting,
designing, adapting to, or
modifying the performance
space for a play or film.

4. STAGING
Staging is the position of
the acting area in relation
to the audience.

5. Acting Area
is the available space
occupied by the set and
used by the actors when
acting.

6. Areas of the Stage
The stage where the actors perform the drama in front of an
audience is divided into the following areas as described by
Theatre Solutions, Inc (2017):
 Upstage
 Acting Area/Center
Stage (CS)
 Downstage
 Cross Over
 Stage Right (SR) and
Stage Left (SL)

7. Areas of the Stage
The stage where the actors perform the drama in front of an
audience is divided into the following areas as described by
Theatre Solutions, Inc (2017):
 Upstage
It is the area that is
considered the
furthest from the audience.
The upstage is
divided into upstage right
(USR), upstage
center (USC), and upstage
left (USL).

8. Areas of the Stage
The stage where the actors perform the drama in front of an
audience is divided into the following areas as described by
Theatre Solutions, Inc (2017):
 Acting Area/Center Stage
(CS)
This is the location where the
actors are expected to
perform and where much of
the set is placed.

9. Areas of the Stage
The stage where the actors perform the drama in front of an
audience is divided into the following areas as described by
Theatre Solutions, Inc (2017):
 Downstage
It is the area that is
considered the closest to
the audience. The
downstage is divided into
downstage right (DSR),
downstage center (DSC),
and downstage left (DSL).

10. Areas of the Stage
The stage where the actors perform the drama in front of an
audience is divided into the following areas as described by
Theatre Solutions, Inc (2017):
 Cross Over
This area is utilized by the
performers as they travel
from the left side to the right
side, the stage hands and
the technicians which is
purposely concealed from
the audiences’ sight.

11. Areas of the Stage
The stage where the actors perform the drama in front of an
audience is divided into the following areas as described by
Theatre Solutions, Inc (2017):
 Stage Right (SR) and Stage
Left (SL)
This is the area to the left and right of
the performers (audience’s right and
left respectively) where it may be
utilized as the performers’ acting area
if the need arises. It also has off right
and off left which may serve as points
for the entrance and exit of the
performers when they need to. Both
the off right and off left are hidden
from the audience.

12. TYPES OF THEATRE
STAGES
PROSCENIUM
THRUST
THEATRES IN-THE-ROUND
Traverse Stage
BLACK-BOX OR STUDIO THEATRES
PLATFORM
HIPPODROMES
OPEN AIR THEATRES

13. PROSCENIUM
The audience sits on one side only and they face
one side of the stage directly, and normally sits at a
lower height. However, in some proscenium stage,
the stage is raised above the audience or they are in
raked (this means that the farther the seat is, the
higher it becomes. The use of proscenium stage is
common in many high school stage or theaters
where the actors perform in front of the audience.
The left and the right wing of the stage are reserved
for the scenes or acts.

14. PROSCENIUM

15. THRUST
As the name suggests, these project
or ‘thrust’ into the auditorium with the
audience sitting on three sides. The
thrust stage area itself is not always
square but may be semi-circular or
half a polygon with any number of
sides. Such stages are often used to
increase intimacy between actors and
the audience.

16. THRUST
is the oldest known fixed type of
staging in the world, and it is
thousands of years old. This type
situates the audience in three sides of
the stage (front, left and right wings).
Hence, it gives a closer and all-around
view of the action.

17. THRUST

18. THEATRES IN-THE-
ROUND
A stage that is positioned at the center of the audience
(audience is situated around the whole stage). This creates
intimate atmosphere and good for drama. Also, in this case,
the audience may feel that they are part of the action and
there is a natural performance. It has almost similar, but
enhanced features of the thrust stage. Because of its position,
it opens to several entrance and exits for the actors and
actresses and the audience can see the act in many angles.
With this, the set designs must be intricate and must make
use of the available spaces.

19. THEATRES IN-THE-ROUND

20. Traverse Stage
In the traverse stage, the audience sits on two sides
and this is good for creating an intimate
atmosphere. This type of stage is considered
unique since it is similar to a fashion shows where
the audience face each other and in between them
is the stage. This gives the performers no space for
the wings and limit the size of their props because
of the size of the area for performance. Thus, the
set must work on all angles of the stage and
require the set changes to be done in front of the
audience.

21. Traverse Stage

22. ARENA
Large scale auditoria and have
a central stage area with
audiences on all sides, similar
to the theatres in-the-round.
The stage area is usually
rectangular, more like a sports
area, with tiered seating.

23. ARENA

24. BLACK- BOX OR
STUDIO
These are flexible
performance spaces which
when stripped to their basics
are a single room painted
black, the floor of the stage
at the same level as the first
audience row.

25. BLACK- BOX OR STUDIO

26. PLATFORM
These usually consist of a raised
rectangular platform at one end of a
room. They can either have a level or
raked sloping floor. The audience sit in
rows facing the stage. The stage is
open And without curtains, they are
sometimes known as end stages or
open stages.

27. PLATFORM

28. HIPPODROMES
Similar to circuses and have
a central arena surrounded
by concentric tiered seating.
Deep pits or low screens
often separate the audience
from the arena.

29. HIPPODROMES

30. OPEN AIR
These outdoor theatres that do
not have a roof although
sometimes parts of the stage or
audience seating will be covered.
These stages may make use of
the neutral light as it changes
during the day, particularly
sunset.

31. OPEN AIR

32. Take note:
The stage of a drama tells the flow of the play and
how it will be presented aside from its dialogue.
These two (stage and dialogue) are important
elements to bring the characters to life.
Writing a one-act play is very limited in terms of its
setting and staging so it is necessary to utilize all the
available resources. Adams (2014) pointed out that
the design of the set can dramatically alter how
actors perform in the play.

33. Further, the following should be followed
when writing a play according to Adams
(2014):
1. Create an interesting plot
The audience should be able to follow it from the
beginning to the end.
2. Decide on your structure
The location of the play should only be limited to
be able to translate on
stage.

34. 3. Decide how you want it to look
Consider the different types of stage and decide
which one to use in the play. The author should
visualize it when writing. The layout must be easy
to follow and the audience must not be distracted.
An eye-catching but not distracting backdrop can
work better than lots of props on the stage.
4. Know your audience
The playwright should take note of the audience’s
age, gender, demographic, class, background,
education and others.
5. Create interesting characters
Each of the characters should be unique and easy
for the audience to identify.

35. Take note:
Staging also becomes successful with the visual
details involve in the drama such as blocking
(precise staging of actors in order to facilitate the
performance of a play), scenic background (setting
of a production), stage directions and sound
effects.

36. Take note:
Stage Directions is written inside round brackets,
described how the actors, in the portrayal of their
characters, are expected to move, act, and speak.
Stage directions also describe other ‘movements’
on stage such as sound and light effects. A writer must
take note that the use of the present tense is observed
in writing stage directions. Also, stage directions may
be inserted, as deemed fit, before, in-between, or after
the lines of the characters (Montenegro-Gasulas et al.
2017).

37. Solmerano et al. (2017)
added the following tips in writing a One-
Act Play:
1. Get to Know One-Act Plays
As an aspiring one-act play writer, a good start is
through familiarity of
one-act plays by reading and watching it. Reading and
watching these can help
to understand the scope of the play and knowing when
and where to place the
characters and actions within your play to make it
more realistic and interesting
without sacrificing the timeframe and set options.

38. Solmerano et al. (2017)
added the following tips in writing a One-
Act Play:
2. Finding and Developing Your Lead Character
Since it is only a one-act play, it will only involve a
very limited number of people which is normally
not more than 4-5 people thus, finding the main
character may create problem among writers. In
order to create a good one act play.

39. Solmerano et al. (2017)
added the following tips in writing a One-
Act Play:
3. Setting your scenes
The limited time of the one-act play also suggest a
setting that is few as
possible or even limited to only one set. Flexibility is
an important factor in any
play because it might share set with others. The
writer’s task is to make use of
the characters’ obstacles and turn these into
different scenes.

40. Make a story out of the pictures by
placing their dialogue inside the
bubbles/callouts.

41. Make a story out of the pictures by
placing their dialogue inside the
bubbles/callouts.

42. Make a story out of the pictures by
placing their dialogue inside the
bubbles/callouts.

43. Make a story out of the pictures by
placing their dialogue inside the
bubbles/callouts.