Hi,
<xsl:template match="$stage">
  <xsl:template mathc="*[name() = $stage]">
I hadn't thought of that.  If that works, then that is
the way I'll try.
No, it won't work in XSLT 1.0. Thinking in XSLT version (1.0 < x < 2.0) again, 
sorry.
 
What if I have a document where the stage directions are
given in two different ways and I want to match both...
can I do:
<xsl:variable name="stage">sd|stagedir</xsl:variable>
Or does that mean that <xsl:template match="*[name() = $stage]">
will just look for an element named "sd|stagedir"?
Yes.
 
Cheers,
Jarno - SITD: Venom
 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list