Number Stage Directions
Rationale
In modernized texts, LEMDO honours stage directions as paratextual material by giving
stage directions their own number to create a citable and clickable link.
Similar to the Act, Scene, Speech numbering system (A.S.Sp), stage directions receive
an Act Scene Stage Direction (A.S.SD) number.
LEMDO’s stage direction numbering system acknowledges that, while a stage direction
is paratextual, it is paratext that belongs to a particular scene in the modern text
but is not fixed by mise-en-page to the adjacent speech(es).
Introduction
Similar to how we encode speeches, we use the
@xml:id attribute to number stage directions in modernized texts.The value of the
@xml:id attribute must be carefully constructed to include the values of the parent act and
scene
<div>
elements, plus the sequential number of the stage direction. The pattern for the
value is "emdABBR_M_a1_s1_sd1" where "emdABBR_M" is the name of the file, "_a1" is inherited from act one, "_s1" is inherited from scene 1, and "_sd1" is the number of the stage direction. The first stage direction in the scene is always
one.In a play with running scenes, the pattern for the value of the
@xml:id is emdABBR_M_s1_sd1.Although you may number your stage directions manually, we have written an XSLT to
number them. Our XSLT will ensure that they are quickly and correctly numbered.
Practice: Number Stage Directions Using an XSLT
The simplest and quickest way to number stage directions in your modernized text is
to use our XSLT. We recommend running this transformation after you have finalized
the stage directions in your edition in case you move any during modernization. If
you do need to renumber stage directions after running the XSLT, you can remove the
stage direction numbering using a regular expression and simply run the numbering
XSLT again.
To run the XSLT to number stage directions, follow the instructions outlined in
Transformations.You will use the transformation called
LEMDO: Add ids to stage in modernized texts.
Practice: Number Stage Directions Manually
If you decide to number your stage directions manually, follow these steps:
Add an
@xml:id attribute to your
<stage>
element.Give the
@xml:id attribute a value formatted as the xml:id of the scene that it is in followed by
"_sd" and then the number of the stage direction. You must start numbering stage directions
at "sd1" for each scene, and stage directions must be numbered consecutively.Our Schematron will prompt you if you skip a number in the sequence. Our Schema will
also catch any repeated values when you validate your file.
Remember that your stage direction numbers inherit the xml:id of the containing
<div>
. If you are privileging act-scenes, then the xml:id of the first stage direction
in 1.1 will be "emdABBR_M_a1_s1_sd1". If you are privileging running scenes, then the xml:id of the first stage direction
in Sc. 1 will be "emdABBR_M_s1_sd1".Examples
In this example, the play is divided into acts and scenes:
<div type="act" n="1" xml:id="emdH5_FM_a1">
<div type="scene" n="1" xml:id="emdH5_FM_a1_s1">
<head>1.1</head>
<stage xml:id="emdH5_FM_a1_s1_sd1" type="entrance">Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely.</stage>
</div>
</div>
The containing scene’s xml:id is <div type="scene" n="1" xml:id="emdH5_FM_a1_s1">
<head>1.1</head>
<stage xml:id="emdH5_FM_a1_s1_sd1" type="entrance">Enter the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely.</stage>
</div>
</div>
"emdH5_FM_a1_s1", so the xml:id of the stage direction is "emdH5_FM_a1_s1" followed by "_sd" and its stage direction number which is, in this case, "1".In this example, the play is divided into scenes only:
<div type="scene" n="1" xml:id="emdAHDM_M_s1">
<head>Scene 1</head>
<stage type="entrance" xml:id="emdAHDM_M_s1_sd1">Enter the Count Labervele in his shirt and night-gown with two jewels in his hand.</stage>
</div>
The containing scene’s xml:id is <head>Scene 1</head>
<stage type="entrance" xml:id="emdAHDM_M_s1_sd1">Enter the Count Labervele in his shirt and night-gown with two jewels in his hand.</stage>
</div>
"emdAHDM_M_s1", so the xml:id of the stage direction is "emdAHDM_M_s1" followed by "_sd" and its stage direction number which is, in this case, also "1".Prosopography
Janelle Jenstad
Janelle Jenstad is a Professor of English at the University of Victoria, Director
of The Map of Early Modern London, and Director of Linked Early Modern Drama Online. With Jennifer Roberts-Smith and Mark Kaethler, she co-edited Shakespeare’s Language in Digital Media: Old Words, New Tools (Routledge). She has edited John Stow’s A Survey of London (1598 text) for MoEML and is currently editing The Merchant of Venice (with Stephen Wittek) and Heywood’s 2 If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody for DRE. Her articles have appeared in Digital Humanities Quarterly, Elizabethan Theatre, Early Modern Literary Studies, Shakespeare Bulletin, Renaissance and Reformation, and The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. She contributed chapters to Approaches to Teaching Othello (MLA); Teaching Early Modern Literature from the Archives (MLA); Institutional Culture in Early Modern England (Brill); Shakespeare, Language, and the Stage (Arden); Performing Maternity in Early Modern England (Ashgate); New Directions in the Geohumanities (Routledge); Early Modern Studies and the Digital Turn (Iter); Placing Names: Enriching and Integrating Gazetteers (Indiana); Making Things and Drawing Boundaries (Minnesota); Rethinking Shakespeare Source Study: Audiences, Authors, and Digital Technologies (Routledge); and Civic Performance: Pageantry and Entertainments in Early Modern London (Routledge). For more details, see janellejenstad.com.
Joey Takeda
Joey Takeda is LEMDO’s Consulting Programmer and Designer, a role he assumed in 2020
after three years as the Lead Developer on LEMDO.
Mahayla Galliford
Project manager, 2025-present; research assistant, 2021-present. Mahayla Galliford
(she/her) graduated with a BA (Hons with distinction) from the University of Victoria
in 2024. Mahayla’s undergraduate research explored early modern stage directions and
civic water pageantry. Mahayla continues her studies through UVic’s English MA program
and her SSHRC-funded thesis project focuses on editing and encoding girls’ manuscripts,
specifically Lady Rachel Fane’s dramatic entertainments, in collaboration with LEMDO.
Martin Holmes
Martin Holmes has worked as a developer in the UVic’s Humanities Computing and Media
Centre for over two decades, and has been involved with dozens of Digital Humanities
projects. He has served on the TEI Technical Council and as Managing Editor of the
Journal of the TEI. He took over from Joey Takeda as lead developer on LEMDO in 2020.
He is a collaborator on the SSHRC Partnership Grant led by Janelle Jenstad.
Navarra Houldin
Training and Documentation Lead 2025–present. LEMDO project manager 2022–2025. Textual
remediator 2021–present. Navarra Houldin (they/them) completed their BA with a major
in history and minor in Spanish at the University of Victoria in 2022. Their primary
research was on gender and sexuality in early modern Europe and Latin America. They
are continuing their education through an MA program in Gender and Social Justice
Studies at the University of Alberta where they will specialize in Digital Humanities.
Tracey El Hajj
Junior Programmer 2019–2020. Research Associate 2020–2021. Tracey received her PhD
from the Department of English at the University of Victoria in the field of Science
and Technology Studies. Her research focuses on the algorhythmics of networked communications. She was a 2019–2020 President’s Fellow in Research-Enriched
Teaching at UVic, where she taught an advanced course on
Artificial Intelligence and Everyday Life.Tracey was also a member of the Map of Early Modern London team, between 2018 and 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, she was a fellow in residence at the Praxis Studio for Comparative Media Studies, where she investigated the relationships between artificial intelligence, creativity, health, and justice. As of July 2021, Tracey has moved into the alt-ac world for a term position, while also teaching in the English Department at the University of Victoria.
Orgography
LEMDO Team (LEMD1)
The LEMDO Team is based at the University of Victoria and normally comprises the project
director, the lead developer, project manager, junior developers(s), remediators,
encoders, and remediating editors.
Metadata
| Authority title | Number Stage Directions |
| Type of text | Documentation |
| Publisher | University of Victoria on the Linked Early Modern Drama Online Platform |
| Series | Linked Early Modern Drama Online |
| Source |
TEI Customization created by Martin Holmes, Joey Takeda, and Janelle Jenstad; documentation written by members of the LEMDO Team
|
| Editorial declaration | n/a |
| Edition | Released with Linked Early Modern Drama Online 1.0 |
| Encoding description | Encoded in TEI P5 according to the LEMDO Customization and Encoding Guidelines |
| Document status | prgGenerated |
| Funder(s) | Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada |
| License/availability |
This file is licensed under a CC BY-NC_ND 4.0 license, which means that it is freely downloadable without permission under the following
conditions: (1) credit must be given to the author and LEMDO in any subsequent use
of the files and/or data; (2) the content cannot be adapted or repurposed (except
in quotations for the purposes of academic review and citation); and (3) commercial
uses are not permitted without the knowledge and consent of the editor and LEMDO.
This license allows for pedagogical use of the documentation in the classroom.
|