Theater drapes and stage curtains
Theater drapes and stage curtains are large pieces of cloth that hide backstage areas from the audience. They come in different fabrics and colors, usually dark to absorb light. In North America, heavyweight velour is a common standard. Drapes are part of soft goods, which are all the non-wardrobe cloth items used on stage.
The front curtain, also called the house curtain or grand drape, hangs downstage behind the proscenium arch. It opens and closes during a show to reveal or hide the stage. There are many styles: it can be pleated or flat, it can part in the center, and it can fly in or out, or roll or gather in different ways.
The grand valance is a short curtain that sits between the proscenium and the grand drape. It helps frame the stage and can match the grand drape or be more elaborate. A false proscenium is a decorative frame inside the real proscenium, created by a top piece called a teaser and side pieces called tormentors. These help mask the fly system. Some productions use a show portal instead.
Legs and borders are used to frame the acting space and hide backstage areas. Legs are tall, narrow curtains at the sides; borders are short curtains above that hide equipment. Several sets may be used to create entrances at different places.
Travelers, or draw curtains, open and close horizontally to reveal or hide everything upstage. They can be motorized or operated by hand. Tabs, also called up-and-downers, are curtains that run from floor to upstage to provide extra masking on the wings.
Some theaters have a single track around the sides and back to carry these curtains, and gaps in the track can line up with the legs to create entrances.
A scrim is a sheer curtain that looks opaque when lit from the front but becomes transparent when lit from behind. It can be used as a backdrop or for projections, though image quality is lower than a dedicated screen. A backdrop is a painted curtain at the back of the stage to show scenery.
Drops are painted canvas pieces hung by battens or pipes. They’re weighted at the bottom to prevent flapping and can be rolled down from the back. An olio is an old Vaudeville-style drop with sponsor ads.
A cyclorama, or cyc, is a large back curtain that can be lit to represent the sky or other backgrounds. Cycs and scrims can be lit or projected on, and sometimes use projections or gobos (patterned light) to create images.
The safety curtain, or fire curtain, separates the stage from the audience in case of fire. It may be made of fireproof fabric or steel, and many are designed to descend automatically to seal off the stage.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 21:08 (CET).