Front curtain

A front curtain, also known as a house curtain, act curtain, grand drape, main drape or main rag, is the stage curtain or curtains at the very front of a theatrical stage.

Typically, the front curtain is opened at the beginning of a performance to reveal the stage set and closed during intermissions and at the end of a performance. The most common material for the front curtain is a heavy velour material, often with pleated fullness sewn into the fabric to create a more opulent appearance.

There are several types of house curtains, which vary in construction, operation, and cost. Depending on a curtain's type, its fabric may be flat or pleated, and it may drape, hang, or do both. Some types open by rising into the fly space above the stage; other types travel horizontally, or travel vertically but gather near the proscenium top and thus do not require a fly space. Some require mechanical power to operate whereas others may be operated by a person, by pulling an operating line (a rope) or directly pulling the curtains.

The Austrian curtain or Austrian drape, also called a puff curtain, has multiple vertical and usually nylon lines distributed evenly across the length of the fabric (often a thin satin, charmeuse, or chiffon material that bunches up well). Each of these lines runs through a pulley at the top of the curtain and then over to a head block. From there, they each lead and down to a mechanical winch necessary to raise the curtain which is typically much too heavy for one person to raise. As the winch turns and curtain rises, it is collected in a series of swags accentuated by horizontal pleats called festoons sown into the curtain from top to bottom. In this sense, it has both vertical and horizontal fullness. Austrian curtains reached their height of popularity in the mid twentieth century. They are visually considered very aesthetic, require little fly space overhead, and are relatively simple to operate as long as the winch can bear the load. However, they are very complex to rig and are usually the most expensive kind of curtain to construct.

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