The type attribute of stage
Categorization of stage directions using the type attribute, with a list of permissible values
The TEI provides the type attribute of stage as a way to indicate what kind of information the stage direction conveys. Such information could be useful both in providing a basis for analysis and comparison (for instance, a study of shifts in the role of stage directions over time, or a comparison of different playwrights’ use of stage directions), and in allowing for different treatment of different types of directions. The TEI provides a set of suggested values for this type attribute, which we reproduce here with some additional glossing to suggest their range of application. These values are not built into the default TEI DTD, but they are built into the extended DTD that accompanies this Guide. In the P5 version of the TEI Guidelines, these suggested values are declared in the TEI schema, but you may also use additional values of your own. Whether you use these values or create your own, you should make sure that the value set is declared explicitly in your schema and documentation, rather than leaving it uncontrolled.
In general, it is easier to encode a stage direction with a single stage element than to divide it up into multiple stage elements. However, this means that for plays with complex stage directions you may find yourself describing them all as mixed because they include more than one kind of information. If you do want to provide for any kind of meaningful analysis as described above, it would be better to encode each distinct component (setting, entrance, business, delivery, etc.) as a separate stage element with its own type attribute.
The suggested values are as follows:
- setting: indicates a setting for the dramatic scene; may involve details of stage layout, lighting, time, place, sound, or occasion. For instance: A ballroom lit with candles. Soft music playing, and couples dancing the rhumba.
- entrance: describes an entrance, either simply or with details of motion, costume, accompanying events. For instance: Enter, waving a scimitar; Enter, to the sound of trumpets; Enter, gaudily attired, with elephants.
- exit: describes an exit, either simply or in detail. For instance, Exeunt omnes; Exit, pursued by a bear.
- business: describes stage business, that is, some activity going on while the lines are being spoken. For instance, She toys with her fan; He throws the potato aside with a snort; Rocks fall from above.
- novelistic: a stage direction which describes the state of mind or motivations of a character, as if from an omniscient narrator’s viewpoint. For instance, Fed up with the situation, and becoming impatient; Wondering what she means; Privately contemplating escape.
- delivery: describing the delivery of a line, either the person to whom it is spoken, or the manner of delivery. This should be distinguished from business, which desribes accompanying action rather than the manner of the speech itself. Examples of delivery might be To Acrasia; Sotto voce; Aside; In a high, frightened voice; Stuttering badly.
- modifier: describing of the character’s appearance, some detail about the character (P4). For instance, Disguised as a juggler; Wearing a fright wig; Laden with tin pots.
- location: describing the location from which a line is delivered; this should be distinguished from setting, which describes aspects of the entire scene, rather than the position of a character for a particular line. For example, From the couch, At the door, Crossing left, Seated at the table.
- mixed: more than one of the above.