Notes from Spoleto 150, #3
ONE OF THE ELEMENTS of acting is movement, and there is a universal map of stage locations which directors and actors use to position elements of the performance to maximum effect.
When our class was asked which is the most important position, the unanimous answer was “center stage.” Wrong. The dominant position is “down right.”
It seems that, since we read from left to right, our eyes (and brain) automatically move from left to right; when we look at anything, we look first to the front left—which in stage geography is “down right.”
It is also the root of the phrase, “Why, that’s downright important.”
Who knew?
