Stage Curtain & Screen Types

Grand Front Drapes

Hangs immediately upstage of the proscenium arch to mask the full stage as well as act as a sound barrier from the audience. Often the main feature of a venue and the first thing the audience will see, the Grand Front Drapes are traditionally made of sumptuous velvet with generous fullness (pleating) and are often embellished with fringing and sometimes artwork. Some venues also require a matching valance or border to compliment the main drapes and to act as masking to sight lines.

Masking (travellers/tab, legs/tormentors, borders/teasers)

Depending on the application masking drapes can shape a space, framing the performance area by adjusting audience sight lines to hide production elements, absorb light, dampen sound, and create entrance/exit points for performers. Traditionally black in colour, masking drapes are best made from PRG ‘Black IFR Theatre Wool’ and are sometimes requested in velvet.

Travellers (Tab Curtains, mid and rear): Black full stage width curtains which are an important part of stage masking. Normally installed on theatre tracking, when closed ‘mid-stage’ Tabs can reduce the depth of the stage, allowing for more intimate staging or to mask scene changes upstage. ‘Rear stage’ Tabs can create depth and cover fixed cycloramas.

Legs: A series of tall narrow black curtains installed toward the outside edge of a stage to mask the offstage areas from the audience. Gaps between the legs allow performers and scenery to enter and exit.

Borders: Full width short curtains used to mask the lighting and scenery bars above the stage.

Cyclormam (cyc)

Traditionally manufactured from wide width seamless fabrics such as ‘Filled Cloth’ or ‘Nessel’ Canvas. Cycloramas are positioned at the back of a stage or around the perimeter of a studio to create a tensioned flat backdrop that can be used for lighting effects including sunsets, strong color bounces, or subtle washes and lighting shifts.

Gauze (Scrim)

Most often a ‘Sharkstooth’ gauze, a wide width, seamless, open weave material that allows for a dramatic scenic and lighting effects. Depending on whether a gauze is lit from behind or in front it will appear translucent or opaque, either concealing or revealing the scene behind it. Gauzes can be painted with scenic artwork and can also be used as decorative masking for outdoor festivals.

Floorcloth

Typically made from heavy canvas, a floor cloth may be painted or natural.

Starcloth

PRG StarLED Star Cloths stand apart from cheaper imported options. All cloths are custom manufactured from ‘Black IFR Theatre Wool’ base cloth and have a random spread of LED or Fibre Optic “stars” installed to represent a star lit night sky. PRG manufacture starcloth panels which can be joined to create a variety of configurations.

Chroma Key (or Digital Screens and flooring-green screen, blue screen)

Keying fabrics are most commonly used in broadcast television and film production for a video effect process in which a specific color, such as green or blue, are taken out of a shot in post-production. By keying out the block of selected color another image or background can be layered into the picture.