The Purpose Of Blackout Curtains In A Theatre

When producing any sort of performance on stage in a theatre, directing the sound and light is critical. In order to make a dramatic impact as possible, the image must be framed in the right way.

Blackout curtains are used at the sides and rear of the stage outside the performance space in order to hide the offstage areas and equipment from the view of the audience. Known as borders and legs, these curtains are made from fabrics such as black wool serge which will prevent light from reaching the stage and in effect form the edges and rear of a black box. In addition, these curtains will also minimise any reflection from the light on the stage, and at the same time double as a sound barrier to deaden offstage sounds.

Black wool serge, in particular, is not only a light and sound suppressant, but is also inherently flame retardant, so it won’t need any form of chemical treatment as do many other materials. In addition, black wool serge is available in different weights, ranging from 300 grams per square metre (GSM) up to 1kg, although the curtain industry average is 500 GSM. Obviously, the heavier and thicker the material is, the better job it will do at suppressing light and sound.

Additionally, black wool serge curtains can be manufactured with a range of different pleats. A heavy and thick pleat will also help to dim or black out light completely, even if the fabric is unlined,

Large Curtains Of All Descriptions From Cameo Curtains

At Cameo Curtains our speciality is in making large curtains of all descriptions. Quite obviously, we manufacture and supply a lot of different types of theatre curtains, but there are many other buildings that have large windows that also need curtains, such as school halls, village halls, major office buildings with very large entrance halls, church halls, libraries, town halls, and so on. All of these are buildings to which the public has access and which from time to time require privacy, especially during the dark afternoons in winter when the lights are on inside.

At Cameo Curtains, we have the equipment necessary to handle these huge pieces of cloth and also a team of skilled machinists and seamstresses who know how to use it. Furthermore, when you are handling heavy velour’s they can be just that – heavy.

However, it is no problem for the team at Cameo Curtains. Whether you need village hall curtains for the front of the stage, Black Wool Serge Curtains, church stage backdrops, curtains for the windows of your school hall, or any other large curtains, Cameo has got you covered.

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What You Need To Know About Black Wool Serge Curtains

Wool serge fabric is made from sheep’s wool which has been woven to create a fabric that is very thick and dense, and very durable which makes it deal for stage curtains, especially for acoustic purposes.

Wool serge fabric is available in varying widths from 120cm up to 180cm and comes in varying weights as well. These are measured in grams per square metre (gsm) and can range from 300 gsm to 1kgsm. 

The industry average is 500 gsm. Wool serge also comes in a variety of colours, but the most common coloured curtains for stage work are black wool serge curtains.

Wool serge is a natural material and is inherently flame retardant without the need for use of any flame-retardant chemicals. It reaches the standard of BS5867 Part2B. This is fine for use as stage curtains, but if you want to use it for upholstery purposes then it has to be back-coated so that it complies with BS5852. If you are buying the fabric direct from a supplier, you should always ask if it is certified to the British Standard. If it is not, your insurance could be null and void in the event of a fire.

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Why Red Theatre Curtains?

As you sit in the auditorium of the theater waiting for the play to begin, have you ever wondered why the curtain between you and the stage is so often red? When you stop to think about it, there are so many red theatre curtains that it sometimes seems that theatre managements are completely unaware that there are actually other colours available.

The fact that there is a large curtain between the audience and the stage is that it provides a barrier between them and allows the audience to sit in awe wondering what the set will look like when the curtain goes up or opens. You have probably been to a play or show when there is a gasp of amazement from the audience when the curtain opens and displays a stunning set. It does what the title of a book should do and that is draw the readers in and keep them reading on.

Of course, the lowering of the curtain at the end of the scene simply shows that it is the end of that scene, and in the case of the last one the end of the play.

But why is the curtain so often red? There is actually an answer to it, and it is that the colour red in years gone by showed fire retardants the least. Today, of course, we have many different clear fire retardants, so it really doesn’t matter what colour the curtain fabric is, but it is the case that a red curtain has simply become traditional.

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Some Of The Options For Theatre Curtain Cleaning

It is a fact that theatre curtains do get dirty, especially if they are closed manually by a walkalong. However, even if they are closed electrically, they are still subject to dust and dirt from the auditorium, from scene-shifting, and from all the other activities that take place on a stage.

Both natural fabrics and synthetics will attract dust, but synthetics the more so because synthetics carry a sight electromagnetic charge – static – which is a dust magnet. Dust is not flame retardant.

The best option for curtain cleaning for curtains, cycs, legs, and so on, that are made of natural fibres – cotton, polycotton, linen, silk, jute – is dry cleaning. Natural fabric curtains have been treated with a fire retardant which is water soluble, so if you wash them, they will need to be retreated with flame retardant chemical spray again. Even dry cleaning will somewhat reduce the flame retardancy and some fabrics will need to be retreated after as little as three dry cleanings, while others may last for a dozen or more. It is necessary to test the fabric for flame retardancy after each cleaning.

Since flame retardant chemicals are affected by water, high changes in the humidity of the venue can also affect the flame resistance. For this reason, it is necessary to check the flame retardance periodically.

Synthetic drapery cleaning should be carried out at least once a year, and the best method is vacuuming. If you don’t want to clean curtains yourself, you can find a curtain cleaning service who will come and do it for you.

The Uses Of Stage Lighting

One of the most important things that comes under the heading of stage equipment or theatre equipment is the lighting. Lights allow us to see, and they can be used to create a mood. There are no particular rules about creating a mood: it is an artistic process that is supposed to support the story of what is happening on the stage.

Lighting is required to enhance all of the parts of the stage performance. Lighting can bring focus to a particular point, highlighting what is important and equally perhaps de-emphasising another area that is not so important, so that the focus of the audience is on the important part of the story.

Lighting can be used to take an audience away from the auditorium and into another time and place. For instance, if a scene is set in the past – perhaps the 19th century or earlier - then dim lighting can recreate the effect of candle-light or oil lamps which were used before the advent of electricity. Lights can also underscore the mood or action of the performance and can bring it to life with a combination of colours, intensity, angles, and effects.

Different stage lights can be used for different purposes. An ellipsoidal reflector spotlight can highlight a point with a fairly narrow beam while parabolic reflectors create a wash effect and can cover the whole stage. A Fresnel is something of a combination between a parabolic reflector and an ellipsoidal reflector spotlight and has a zoom function, while a moving head can be a spot, wash, or beam light which all have different beam angle ranges.

Some of the Types of Theatre Curtains We Supply at Cameo Curtains

Theatre curtains are used for a number of different purposes, many types being used to block light or sound, or to help sound move the way it is desired – normally towards the audience – improving the sound quality.

Front of house curtains are the visual barrier between the stage and the audience and are usually closed before the performance begins and during intervals. Intervals allow the stagehands to change the scenery if required without the audience seeing what is going on. Front of house curtains, or main curtains, are always made of inherently flame-retardant material.

Blackout curtains can be used in a number of different ways in order to dim or completely block light. They can be used at the sides of the stage performance area in order to hide off-stage areas and equipment from the view of the audience. These legs, as they are sometimes called, are made from light masking fabrics that totally or partially block the light from reaching the stage. They also minimise any light reflection from the stage itself.

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