Stage directions are the enemy of interpretation. A lot of mid 20th century playwrights go into enormous lengths to describe the scene (or actually, the set), what the characters look like, even where they move and how they speak a line (“slowly, with a growing sense of dread” or some such prescriptive nonsense.) To be fair, often these descriptions and moves come from the stage management's prompt copy of the original production.
Regardless of who has written such stage directions if – as a director or actor – you are faced with such a script, go through and cross them out! They will get in your way. How the actor playing the character delivers a particular line should emerge from the rehearsal process not be dictated by a playwright who imagined that line delivered in a particular way.
Of course, plays like Doctor Faustus feature very few stage directions – or indeed scene divisions - and those that are there are often added by a stage manager or print setter. You have to look in the script for clues as to location and delivery. Which is what you should be doing anyway, every time.
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