Fixing A Stage Curtain

[cgimusic]

At our school our stage curtain is broken and our caretakers can't/wont fix it. Can anyone help us with it?

Thanks in advance.

[NickJones]

I think it would be against the CB Terms Of Service to help you with this sorry, I may be wrong though, could you contact someone from a local proffesional theatre to help you?
Nick

[chrispo86]

I think whether or not it crosses the line depends... Broken in my opinion could be anything from the curtain won't pull or it's falling down or there's a tear in the fabric. So what is meant by "broken"? A little more specific of a question may be able to get an answer (or it'll be clear that we're crossing into that no-no territory...)

[cgimusic]

Originally Posted by chrispo86

I think whether or not it crosses the line depends... Broken in my opinion could be anything from the curtain won't pull or it's falling down or there's a tear in the fabric. So what is meant by "broken"? A little more specific of a question may be able to get an answer (or it'll be clear that we're crossing into that no-no territory...)

Sorry I should have explained better. I didn't have a lot of time when I posted it. As you can see from the photo the cable used to open an close the curtain has slipped of the reel. The cable doesn't seem to go back on to the reel. We could get a professional to come out and fix it. I should have phrased my question a little differently I guess: "Has anyone had this problem before? If so how did you fix it?"

[lighthouse]

Based on the picture, hire a professional. That cable is under tension, probably from the full weight of the curtain.

[n1ist]

It's not only the issue of unrolling the cable and getting it back on the drum; that cable needs to be inspected for damage, and I don't see any sort of guards there, so the whole system should be inspected for safety. As said, you will need to get a professional in there to look at it. It's too easy to lose a finger or get caught up in the line and get seriously hurt.

[headcrab]

Depending on your system, I would disagree. We have a curtain drive that looks very much like yours. When ours breaks, as it has in the past, I have to unwind the tangled cable, move both the motor and drive to one limit position, and rewind the cable. With our system, the curtain moves sideways, so I can get away with that method of repair, but if yours moves vertically, then yes, you should contact a professional.

EDIT by Gaff: I want to be very clear that Headcrab is describing doing this on a curtain that is traveling from side to side. Never attempt to do anything like this with a curtain that travels up and down.

[chrispo86]

Originally Posted by cgimusic

...As you can see from the photo the cable used to open an close the curtain has slipped of the reel. The cable doesn't seem to go back on to the reel...

My bad...
I forget that I'm at the office and they have pictures from certain mass-photo-storage sites blocked. That was one of them.

I looked at the pic on my Iphone. Looks like quite a mess. Unfortunately I'd say get a pro to look at it. I wouldn't want to mess with something like that, there's too many other possible complications that could have arisen from that happening, and I do think that offering any advice would cross the aformentioned line...

[gafftaper]

I'm THIS CLOSE to closing this thread.

Please do not post any ideas of how to fix this situation.

I am going to leave the thread open for discussion because I think you still need help and we can help you. However, I want to make it very clear that fixing this problem definitely requires a REAL professional rigger to come inspect and fix it in person. Any discusson of how to fix it is definitely not allowed under the TOS. As has been said you not only need the problem fixed you need it inspected for damage and analyzed to find out what went wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again.

I see you are in Reading, UK. Looks like you aren't far from London. Is there a university nearby with a good theater program? (There might be a rigger there willing to help you out for free or for the cost of buying him lunch). Maybe somebody here knows somebody there. Anyone have connections to a rigger in the London?

[aminorking]

Can i ask which school you are at? Is it Leighton Park?
If the caretakers won't fix it then the issue must be raised with the person in charge with buildings etc or in charge of the welfare of students on site. Getting a professional, qualified rigger in is essential, and with a bit of sweet talking you may be able to get one from the Hexagon (which for others is the local rep house)