Curtain Fabric

Theatrical softgoods - the stage curtains and theater drapery - are an often overlooked aspect to stagecraft. more...

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If you’ve ever wondered about the difference between stage curtains and theater drapery types - such as Teasers, Tormenters, Border Curtains, or Theater Scrims - the stage curtain pictures and explanations provided below may help. You'll also find information on stage curtain fabric choices and curtain track selection.

The front curtain - known also as the grand drape, act curtain or house curtain - hangs just upstage of the proscenium arch and is used to close the acting area from the audience's view when the acting area is not supposed to be seen. There are several types of front curtains:

The braille curtain is suspended from the gridiron and either raised or lowered by a counter weight system in order to expose, or close, the stage.

The traveller curtain is composed of two sections of curtain suspended from a traveller track, allowing the curtain to part in the middle and pull offstage into the wings.

The "tab" or tableau curtain gathers the two sections of fabric up and to the sides and usually forms a draped effect when it is opened.

Typical Fabric Choices for a Grand Drape include 21oz or heavier Cotton or Synthetic Velour.

Track Recommendations for this type of application will vary depending on the style of drape chosen.

Stage Backdrop

See: Stage Backdrop Image (Flat Curtain, Often Used for Theatrical Scenery)

A standard stage backdrop or theatrical backdrop is made from flame retardant muslin, sewn without fullness. It has a strip of very heavy fabric, called webbing, across the top, which is studded with grommets. (Brass eyelets that are embedded into the fabric) Small pieces of tie-line are then fed through the grommets so that the drop can be tied to what ever will support it. Typically a drop will have a pipe pocket sewn onto the bottom to accept a pipe. The weight of the pipe will help to pull the drop flat.

For theatrical scenery, images and textures can be hand painted by a scenic artist or digitally printed. Either method may be combined with bobinette or scrim fabric to create a cut drop.

Traveler Curtain

See: Traveler Image (Often Two Overlapping Curtain Halves)

The conventional action of a Draw or Traveler Curtain is the drawing together of two curtain halves on two overlapping sections of track. The track guides the carriers, which are attached to the top edge of the curtain at about 1-foot intervals.

The draw line is fastened to the first or lead carrier which pushes or pulls the rest of the carriers to open or close the curtain. Sometimes a one-way traveler is needed, which means that instead of coming from opposite sides of the stage, the curtain is drawn on stage from one side on a single long track.

Read more at Wikipedia.org