Blocking (stage)

In theatre, blocking is the precise staging of actors to facilitate the performance of a play, ballet, film or opera.

Through careful use of positioning on the stage, a director or performer can establish or change the significance of a scene.

[4] In contemporary theater, the director usually determines blocking during rehearsal, telling actors where they should move for the proper dramatic effect, to ensure sight lines for the audience and to work with the lighting design of the scene.

It is especially important for the stage manager to note the actors' positions, as a director is not usually present for each performance, and it becomes the stage manager's job to ensure that actors follow the assigned blocking from night to night.

[7] Before that time the house right was called "côté de la reine" (Queen side), and the house left "côté du roi" (King side), because of the respective positions of the Queen and King galleries.