blocking

Theatre term that refers to the precise movement and positioning of actors on a stage

EntityQ28457469

Subclass of: directing
Part of: script

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

In theatre, blocking is the precise arrangement of actors to facilitate the performance of a play, ballet, film or opera. Historically, the expectations of staging/blocking have changed substantially over time in Western theatre. Prior to the movements toward realism that occurred in the 19th century, most staging used a tableau approach, in which a stage picture was established whenever characters entered or left the stage. This ensured that leading performers were shown to their best advantage. In more recent times, while nothing is different about showing leading performers to their best advantage, there have been changing cultural expectations that have made blocking/staging more complicated.

Overview

All data

18 statements · 17% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: caption
didascaliae
Named after: didascaly
Facet of: theatre

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11 identifiers linking blocking across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

17%

externally sourced

Source last edited May 31, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). blocking (Q28457469). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/blocking-Q28457469