Best way to tie/hold back main curtain and legs

[dpak]

High school drama teacher here. First, I know what I’m asking should not be done, but I don’t think it’s a battle I can win. So…

When some of the other performing arts groups in the school perform on our stage, they might have over 100 students on stage along with chairs and stands. They want to tie the legs and main curtains - wrapping them with fabric so they don’t stick out as much - and pull them to the sides in order to make more room. Our wing space is about 6 feet on each side, so they are being pulled a few feet. Doing this gives them maybe 8 extra feet at the most. Given that this is a bad idea, is there any way to do this that would not cause harm to the curtains? The legs are dead hung. One thought from another person is to tie each curtain with a wide piece of fabric - so as not to cause creases in it - and have a hook on the wall that the curtain/fabric can be connected to.

I plan on telling people that this is a bad idea. However, it’s possible that my opinion will not matter. If we have to do this, do you have any suggestions on the best way to pull the legs and main curtain back to the sides?

 

[derekleffew]

One thought from another person is to tie each curtain with a wide piece of fabric - so as not to cause creases in it - and have a hook on the wall that the curtain/fabric can be connected to.

Not the worst idea. For the tie-back, I'd sew a tube of fabric matching the curtain, 12" a side (so 24" circumference, 7.6" diameter) as long as necessary.

https://www.ehow.com/how_5155375_use-curtain-tiebacks.html

 

[What Rigger?]

+1 to Derek's post. If you're tying a tag line to them to pull them in any particular direction, make sure you're not running lines at or below head height so nobody gets, literally, clotheslined.

 

[Van]

The biggest issue with tying back any curtain is not the wrinkles it will introduce, usually very visible because they are at torso level and really catch the light, but the tearing on the leading edge grommets. We see draperies, all the time, where the leading edge, even if it set with 2 grommets for the Master Carrier will rip right underneath the Jute. This happens most often because people pull the onstage edge towards the off side. the problem is worse with Legs as they usually only have a single Grommet on the outside edge.