Theater drapes and stage curtains are large pieces of cloth that are designed to mask backstage areas of a theater from spectators. They are designed for a variety of specific purposes and come in several types; many are made from black or other dark colored, light-absorbing material, and heavyweight velour is the current industry standard for these. Theater drapes represent a portion of any production's soft goods, a category which includes any cloth-based element of the stage or scenery (though not including cloth theater costumes or wardrobe).
Proscenium stages use a greater variety of drapes than arena or thrust stages. In proscenium theaters, drapes are typically suspended from battens that are controlled by a fly system (i.e., they are "flown", in theater terminology). When a drape is flown, the task of adjusting its height for best masking effect is simplified and, in the case of a drape that must be moved during a performance, this enables the drape to be quickly raised above the proscenium arch—thus positioning it out of view of spectators—or lowered to any arbitrary height above the stage, as required.
Famous quotes containing the words theater, stage and/or curtains:
“The primary function of a theater is not to please itself, or even to please its audience. It is to serve talent.”
—Robert Brustein (b. 1927)
“I know that each stage is not going to last forever. I used to think that when he was little. Whenever he was in a bad stage I thought that he was going to be like that for the rest of his life and that I’d better do something to shape him up. When he was in a good state, I thought he was going to be a perfect child and I would never have to worry; he was always going to stay that way.”
—Anonymous Parent of An Eight-Year-Old. As quoted in Between Generations by Ellen Galinsky, ch. 4 (1981)
“I am black and beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Song of Solomon 1:5.