Onstage > Stage Management: Plays & Musicals

PROMPT BOOK: Your Prompt Book - Left or Right?

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prizm:
OK so Ive been out there a while doing my thing and Ive always kida been the only one. I am not working at a LORT theatre which has belive it or not a Stage Managment Staff, people with whom I can share and commiserate. One of the catches with this situation is we end up ASMing each other. So I have had the oppertunity to see their books and now I wonder am I the oddball or them. I have only been here a few months so Im still settling but I have see the book of everyone on staff now and They All have ther books set up with text on the left side and blocking pages on the right. I can see how this would help with blocking but for cueing I think it would totally mess with my head. I asked they said there was no Company standars its just what they do. So I wanted to see what the you guys do.
text left or right?

Mac Calder:
I have always placed it on the right hand side. I agree - I think that the calling is far more important than the blocking and a persons eyes naturally fall onto the right hand page before the left when they turn a page (unless held up and the person is doing reading, that is different)

There are reasons for and against both. I have seen some people who have it landscape, blocking at the bottom, script at the top. I have no idea how they call from it though.

giabow:
I do text on the right because I'm right handed.  I find that I have to write blocking faster than I have to write in cues.  Its neater if I put the blocking on the right since thats where my hand is anyway. (Its also the way I was taught to do it, though I've tried it both ways.)

Since I've been doing it this way for so long, I don't find it confusing to look to the left for my cues.

Sarah:
I've tried it with blocking pages on the right and on the left, but prefer my cues to be on the right. That said, it depends on what the show is, and what my mood is like when I make my script for my book. Eh...flexibility is good...

RuthNY:
Hmmm..  

Personally, my blocking book has text on the left hand side page and mini-ground plans and blocking on the right hand page (because I am right handed.)

But, I make a second script for calling, with the text on the right and a big margin on the right of the page for the cues.  I've used a separate calling script for years and have never found it a requirement or even a convenience to have blocking and calling in the same script.

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