The way performers face their instruction (5,9)
I believe the answer is:
stage direction
'instruction' is the definition.
(I know that stage direction is a type of instruction)
'the way performers face' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
'way' could be 'direction' (synonyms) and 'direction' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'sage' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'their' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stage direction that I've seen before include "actor will carry it out" , "exit as one" , "exit, say?" , "order" , "exit, maybe" .)