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You've written a comedy sketch and it looks great on paper. It sounds great too when you get your actors to do a read-through. This is a good start. However, before you put it before an audience (especially a paying audience), it will be important to think not only about the dialogue but about how your characters are going to move about during the sketch. After all, you don't really want them to just stand rigidly there, whilst reading a passage of really dramatic dialogue!

With the sketch shows that I've been involved with, there has usually been a number of sketches being performed one after the other, and sometimes the same actors can be involved in the next sketches too. You (or your director if you're lucky enough to have one) will need to determine the optimal way of positioning the actors both at the start and end of the sketch and consider what actions or movement is required during the course of the dialogue.

So, what are the things that you need to take into account when agreeing the stage directions?

1. Your script is the principal driver of your stage directions.
A pretty obvious first step is to look at your script and see what basic directions are explicit in it, and what additional elements might be implied from it and the characters mood and/or behaviour. However, you shouldn't necessarily take those initial script-contained directions as gospel. The writer is likely to have included them without having the benefit of knowing the size and shape of stage that the sketch will end up being performed on.

2. Have a read-through and see how the actors react to the script.
If you haven't given your actors explicit instructions on how they should move about on stage, then the chances are that they will improvise. An actor who's line involves them shouting at another character will probably naturally move into body language that supports their dialogue stepping forward, pointing a finger, etc.

Don't underestimate the value that experienced actors can add to the way your sketch is performed. They may see ways to bring your sketch to life that you, as the writer, would never have thought of.

Another advantage of getting the actors to do a read-through is that it should quite clearly flag up obvious deficiencies. If you have a character who has 3 minutes on stage where he or she is not speaking, and they just stand there it's going to feel awkward to the actor and will stand out like a sore thumb to the audience.

3. Consider the character dynamics of the sketch.
If

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